Industry Insights
Roundtable Discussion: Laboratory Billing Solutions and the Lab RCM Process
June 30, 2026
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in April 2023.
For those who may have missed it, the April 2023 issue of CAP Today featured a roundtable discussion on laboratory billing, led by Bob McGonnagle. As usual, Bob did a great job as moderator as experts in the field of laboratory revenue cycle management (lab RCM) discussed various topics, including what is required and where things stand with the No Surprises Act, ongoing issues with prior authorizations, denials, and slow payments, the laboratory billing process, and digital pathology solutions.
If you’re interested in the full discussion, click below to read the article.
CAP Today Roundtable Article: In Lab Billing, No Surprises and Other Complexities
LigoLab's Fully Integrated Laboratory Billing Solutions
How LigoLab Handles Patient Estimate Matching and Billing Transparency
LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian participated in the discussion and was asked whether LigoLab customers were having issues matching service estimates to what is ultimately billed to patients.
He responded by pointing out that LigoLab's all-in-one laboratory information system (LIS) software, with advanced embedded laboratory billing solutions, has the infrastructure and rules engine that customers need to manage such a scenario. He added that having advanced laboratory information systems with fully integrated lab revenue cycle management modules creates a single source of truth, enabling customers to manage this example from multiple angles.
Discover More: Clinical Laboratory Management Solutions for Lab Revenue Cycle Management (Lab RCM)
How LigoLab's Platform Helps Pathology Practices Overcome Staffing Issues
A bit later, Avunjian was asked how the comprehensive and flexible LigoLab Informatics Platform helps pathology practices overcome staffing issues. Here is his full response; the CAP Today version was edited due to spacing constraints:
"One of our approaches to solving staffing issues involves leveraging rules and an automation engine designed to adapt to any lab operation, whether large or small. Specifically, this approach enables our partners to handle workflow-related challenges via pre-loaded rule sets.
Payer mapping, combined with local and national coverage determination (LCD and NCD) rules, captures potential denials upfront. Transforming the denial aspect of lab billing workflows into a front-end laboratory billing process yields a first-pass pay rate in the upper 90th percentile.
Our primary focus for lab billing automation is not to reduce staff but to increase compliance, accelerate revenue, and improve collections. By significantly reducing the rate of claim denials and appeals, we can help our partners eliminate unnecessary delays and revenue leakage.
Driving maximum transparency and utilizing a large rule set to capture potential denials before submission is a healthier and more sustainable approach to the laboratory billing process. Whether the laboratory is small or large, full automation and configurability of the laboratory billing system are key to addressing these challenges. The solution is to comply with payer requirements by streamlining manual processes to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
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Consolidation, Digital Pathology, and the Future of Lab Billing
Does Consolidation Help With Lab Billing and Collections?
The conversation then turned to consolidation and whether it would help with lab billing and collection problems. It also moved to the immediate future of digital pathology, as McGonnagle asked the roundtable whether the new CPT codes for digital pathology would make an immediate impact.
Discover More: Digital Pathology - The Future is Here
Addressing Pathologist Burnout With Better LIS Technology
The group agreed that there were many variables to consider, including pathologist burnout. Avunjian suggested that the right pathology lab software could make a meaningful difference in addressing those challenges.
Discover More: Best Pathology Lab Reporting Software - Buyers Guide and Checklist
"Simplifying pathologists' daily work as much as possible and adding the best laboratory information system software automation to remove the redundant steps and clicks can significantly impact productivity and job satisfaction. AI and digitalization of the slides and workflow will help relieve the staffing shortages," he said.
Discover More: How Advanced LIS Software Helps Pathologists Sign Out Anatomic Pathology Cases Faster
The Future of the Industry: Laboratories Must Become Technology Companies
Avunjian's Closing Thoughts on the Future of Pathology Lab Management
The roundtable discussion concluded with all participants sharing their final thoughts on the industry's future. Avunjian reinforced one central point: end-to-end laboratory information systems remain the key to future success in the pathology lab space, a lesson learned firsthand after several years of work in a private laboratory IT department.
"The lesson learned is that the most successful laboratories must transform into technology companies. We took the tough route and tried to build as much as we could in-house, but at some point, the cost of development and the scope of the implementation became so complex that the project shifted from innovation to maintenance mode.
These days, there are laboratory information system vendors who can help with this transformation. You have to choose your battles and select partners wisely, because you cannot be a great lab and an exceptional LIS company. You have to choose one or the other," he said.
The April issue also featured a section highlighting laboratory billing, accounts receivable, and RCM systems, along with their key features. That section is also linked below.
CAP Today: Laboratory Billing/Accounts Receivable/RCM Systems
More Helpful Laboratory Billing Resources
To learn more about LigoLab's advanced laboratory billing solutions, either contact a lab billing product specialist or explore the following resources:
- Discover More: How Advanced and Highly Integrated Billing Automation Can Help Improve Workflow Efficiency and the Clean Claim Pass-through Rate
- Case Study: How Cole Diagnostics Streamlined Client Billing with LigoLab’s LIS & RCM Platform
- White Paper: Maximizing Your Lab’s Profitability - The Case for In-House Lab Billing
On-Demand Webinar: Overcoming Challenges in Clinical Labs With Advanced Laboratory Information System Technology
Laboratory leaders face ongoing challenges, including staffing shortages, reimbursement cuts, customer turnover, and evolving regulatory demands, all while aiming to achieve growth and profitability. The most effective strategy for eliminating these issues is to integrate advanced rules and automation into laboratory workflows supported by the best laboratory information system software.
If you haven’t already done so, watch LigoLab's on-demand webinar featuring Corey Handelsman, Director of IT at Summit Pathology, and Allison Still, LIS Product Specialist. Together, they explore how advanced LIS systems and data-driven insights can enhance operational efficiency.
Watch On-Demand: Leverage LIS System Rules, Automation, and Data Analytics to Increase Efficiency and Cut Costs
Ready to Strengthen Your Lab's Billing Performance?
Contact a LigoLab lab billing product specialist today to learn how automation, compliance tools, and fully integrated laboratory billing solutions can transform your laboratory's financial operations.
Don’t Wait: Speak With a LigoLab Lab Billing Specialist!
Frequently Asked Questions About Advanced Laboratory Billing Solutions and the Lab Revenue Cycle Management Process
What topics were covered in the CAP Today laboratory billing roundtable?
The April 2023 CAP Today roundtable, moderated by Bob McGonnagle, covered several pressing laboratory billing topics including the requirements and current status of the No Surprises Act, ongoing challenges with prior authorizations, claim denials, and slow payments, the relationship between the laboratory billing process and emerging digital pathology solutions, the potential impact of new digital pathology CPT codes, and the role of automation and LIS technology in addressing staffing shortages and pathologist burnout.
How does LigoLab's platform help labs match patient estimates against what is ultimately billed?
LigoLab's all-in-one LIS software with integrated laboratory billing solutions provides the rule engine infrastructure needed to manage estimate-to-billing reconciliation from multiple angles. Because the LIS and lab RCM modules share a single lab database software, all relevant patient, payer, and billing data are accessible in real-time, creating a fully integrated single source of truth that supports accurate, transparent billing from order inception through payment.
How does LigoLab's automation engine address lab staffing challenges without reducing headcount?
LigoLab's automation engine is designed to increase compliance, accelerate revenue, and improve collections, not to reduce staff. By applying payer mapping and local and national coverage determination (LCD and NCD) rules at the front end of the laboratory billing process, the platform captures potential denials before claims are submitted. This results in a first-pass pay rate in the upper 90th percentile, significantly reducing manual denial management and appeal work that consumes staff time and delays reimbursement.
What does LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian mean when he says labs must become technology companies?
Avunjian's perspective, shaped by years of working in a private laboratory IT department, is that most successful labs can no longer treat technology as a support function. As lab operations grow in complexity, trying to build and maintain technology in-house quickly shifts labs from innovation to maintenance mode. Instead, labs should select specialized LIS software partners who can deliver the technology infrastructure, allowing labs to focus on being excellent at diagnostics rather than trying to be both a great lab and an exceptional LIS company simultaneously.
How can LIS system automation help address pathologist burnout?
Advanced laboratory information system software reduces the repetitive steps and manual clicks that consume pathologists' time, through macro-based reporting, automated case assignment, linked diagnosis and microscopic description fields, and digital pathology integration. By eliminating redundant tasks, lab information system automation enables pathologists to focus on diagnosis rather than administrative work, improving both productivity and job satisfaction in high-volume environments.
What is the No Surprises Act, and how does it affect laboratory billing?
The No Surprises Act is federal legislation designed to protect patients from unexpected medical bills, primarily in situations involving out-of-network providers. For clinical laboratories and pathology practices, it introduces requirements around patient cost estimates, billing transparency, and dispute resolution processes. Labs need robust rule engines and billing infrastructure to effectively manage estimate matching, payer verification, and compliance with the Act's provisions.
What role will AI and digital pathology play in the future of laboratory billing and staffing?
According to Avunjian, AI and the digitalization of slides and workflows will help relieve staffing shortages by automating time-consuming analytical and administrative tasks. On the billing side, AI-driven rules engines and automation tools will continue to enhance denial prevention, coding accuracy, and claim scrubbing, making the lab RCM cycle faster, more accurate, and less dependent on manual intervention as testing volumes and regulatory complexity continue to grow.
