Expand Laboratory Services to the Home and Improve Patient Engagement with New Direct-to-Consumer Business Models

The rapid adoption of digital technologies and the growth of patient consumerism are two trends in healthcare that are here to stay, and the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this trend by three to five years.

This is welcome news for laboratories that are willing to break away from the traditional way of doing business. By embracing fresh ideas and new revenue streams, and by aligning themselves with like-minded software partners, these progressive labs can offer expanded services and ultimately better patient care, all while becoming market leaders and more profitable.

Patients are increasingly becoming more active participants in their healthcare, so labs must adapt with laboratory information system (LIS) software solutions that make it easier for them to directly connect with these patients. 

TestDirectly, developed by LigoLab Information System, does just that. The direct-to-consumer web portal integrates with all laboratory information systems and simplifies the collection, testing, and reporting of specimen samples. It does this by replacing paper forms and manual processes with an electronic workflow that eliminates the potential for human errors, order entry bottlenecks, and reporting delays. 

TestDirectly empowers the patient and the testing laboratory. The flexible portal features lightweight LIS functionality, and it supports patient and family self-registration and scheduling, capacity management, specimen collection, and specimen tracking and processing. It also covers billing and compliance, and it supports automated report delivery via email, SMS text, web portal, or interface, plus automated reporting to public health departments and agencies in every state. 

TestDirectly was in the early stages of development even before the pandemic hit, and the platform took off in May of 2020 when Northwest Laboratory added the patient engagement platform to its operations to quickly boost testing capacity and improve turnaround times. Like most labs at that time, Northwest needed a solution to address the order entry and follow-up bottlenecks caused by the lab’s rapid increase (of 6000 percent) in SARS-CoV-2 testing demand.

Adding capacity and improving TAT were critical elements for Northwest that enabled the lab to secure a contract with the Florida Department of Health. The contract called for COVID-19 baseline testing for all of the state’s 4,000 long-term care facilities, and testing was to include both senior residents and staff. Thanks to strong leadership at Northwest and the many advantages gained by using TestDirectly, the lab was not only able to implement the platform, but also collect, process, and report 190,000 test results, all in just four weeks. 

Since those early days of the pandemic, TestDirectly and its network of laboratories and collection centers throughout the U.S. have collected, processed, and reported over 10 million COVID-19 cases. 

The original idea behind the development of TestDirectly was to give labs more visibility with patients and open up new lines of revenue by supporting all forms of diagnostic testing and preventive screening. Now, with highly effective vaccines readily available and the demand for COVID-19 testing on a downward trend, labs like Northwest can once again turn their attention to other forms of direct-to-consumer testing. 

They can also leverage TestDirectly’s new home test kit collection workflow to create an even stronger bond with their patients.

TestDirectly now supports the ordering and shipping of test kits to patients, the laboratory’s receipt of patient samples after specimen collection, and the automated delivery of test results back to the patients.

To learn more, I invite you to watch this short video that covers how your lab can work with our TestDirectly Implementations Team to create a unique and customizable URL that will drive patients to your online testing menu and support your direct-to-consumer business at every stage.

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The TestDirectly Home Testing Kit Solution Supports:

• Site branding with customized images and verbiage
• The mapping of symptoms to ICD-10 codes
• The customization of “ask on order entry” questions
• The upload of patient documentation (insurance card, photo ID)
• All forms of payment, including credit card
• Email order confirmation
• Order and courier tracking at every stage
• The printing of courier shipping and return labels
• The printing of specimen labels
• Email and/or SMS text notification of test results
• Downloadable and printable result reports 
  

Let LigoLab Take Full Responsibility for Your Laboratory and Financial Operations 

With LigoLab and TestDirectly, labs gain more than an experienced LIS software vendor, they gain a business partner that understands their pain points and through rapid development, provides innovative software solutions that improve operational workflows, reduce labor costs, remove barriers to growth, drive market differentiation, and increase revenue and profit.  

To learn more about the company and how it enables laboratories to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, scale their operations, and become more profitable, I invite you to watch this 11-minute company overview.

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