Case Study
How Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants (ECPC) Tripled its Productivity and Increased its Net Collections by 35 Percent
August 27, 2024
The Problem
Laboratory executives at Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants (ECPC), who specialize in pathology services, laboratory management, and advanced diagnostic testing for hospitals, physicians, and patients throughout southern New England, faced an important decision in December 2019. Up til then, the pathology group had operated successfully without a practice-owned laboratory information system (LIS abbreviation medical). The community hospitals, endoscopy centers, and physician office laboratories for which ECPC provided laboratory management services already had workable LIS system software solutions.
That changed at the close of 2019 when lab leadership decided to move forward and acquire a practice-owned LIS model that would put ECPC in control of its destiny, streamline lab workflow, improve productivity, and allow the path group to quickly bring on new clients and scale its operations without sacrificing the level of service that its current clients had come to expect.
Kristen Conley, ECPC’s Chief Information Officer, helped guide her laboratory colleagues as they vetted laboratory information system companies before establishing a partnership with LigoLab Information Systems and bringing LigoLab’s modern LIS technology online.
Learn More: Six Factors That Should Be Considered Before Upgrading Your Lab's LIS Software
“We quickly negotiated and executed a contract in early January,” recalled Conley. “We were live by March of 2020.”
To learn more about ECPC’s decision-making process and why the thriving lab business ultimately chose LigoLab’s medical lab software solution over competing lab information system software you can read the story here.
The ECPC-LigoLab partnership was first tested in the spring of 2020 as the lab expanded its operations to include UMass Memorial Health Harrington Hospital. UMass Memorial represented a new business opportunity. One in line with ECPC's plans to work with an expanded range of healthcare providers and develop partnerships with OB/GYN, gastroenterology, dermatology, and physician office labs.
ECPC believed that with the right staff and LIS lab software technology to support it, they could create a successful practice to support these specializations.
“Each lab has unique lab workflow and needs, so finding a comprehensive laboratory information system that could be easily customized was a top priority,” said Conley. “The LIS system also had to be able to grow with us and evolve as the needs of our lab partners changed over time.”
Learn More: Comparing LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software
The Solution
It wasn’t long after the Harrington implementation that LigoLab’s agility and flexibility were again tested with two new independent laboratory clients. Like the Harrington Hospital project, ECPC benefitted from the customizability and interoperability offered by LigoLab’s medical LIS during implementations resulting in the two new partners coming online within 60 days.
“Given the success of the first implementation, we knew that we would be using LigoLab for these laboratories as well,” said Merrie Roberts, Practice Manager at ECPC.
Conley explained further that one of the projects was a simple, non-automated implementation without interfacing. The second project, however, was a lab for a multi-specialty medical group that was quite complicated. It required complex lab workflow configurations and interfaces for surgical, gynecologic, genitourinary pathology, and dermatopathology. The fact that both labs were being constructed simultaneously added to the complexity.
Despite these challenges, the LigoLab LIS & RCM Laboratory Informatics Platform was implemented in both labs quickly, successfully, and to the satisfaction of ECPC’s newest clients.
Learn More: Why Integrated LIS System and Lab RCM Software is a Catalyst for Growth
“One thing that makes the LigoLab platform such a good LIS software product for us is that it's very agile,” added Conley. “The LIS laboratory system is extremely responsive and easy to work within, and if assistance is needed, the support team at LigoLab is always there to help. It truly is a great partnership.”
Learn More: How LigoLab Bolsters its Future-Ready LIS & RCM Informatics Platform With Unlimited and Unmatched Customer Service
Conley noted that the autonomy that ECPC gained for its report formats and the ability to interface with new clients were two areas of drastic improvement, whereas before they were stressful and growth-limiting factors.
Most recently, ECPC launched a specialty division that supports several new dermatological practices, and LigoLab’s LIS system laboratory technology was a key enabler that made this possible.
“Soon after we introduced our expanded dermatological division, we were inundated with new implementations,” said Conley. “We were able to have all the builds set up and multiple interfaces created in short order with LigoLab’s LIS software solutions. All our dermatological clients successfully launched in less than 60 days.”
Learn More: LigoLab’s LIS System Support & Implementation Overview
The Results
The LigoLab platform’s ease of use, flexibility, robust interface engine, and quick implementation timeline contributed to the ECPC's ability to scale more quickly than first anticipated.
“Before our first LigoLab implementation, we were at the mercy of legacy LIS systems that were extremely limiting and rigid,” said Conley. “Because of this, our growth potential was restricted. But with LigoLab, our growth potential is almost limitless.”
According to Rebecca DiIorio, Executive Director at ECPC, LigoLab’s laboratory information management platform excels where others fail because the LIS can be quickly customized to fit any situation.
“LigoLab understands the dynamics that modern labs face,” she said. “The team works hand-in-hand with us to provide the LIS system solutions that create market differentiation, giving us the functionality and support needed to expand services and acquire new business.”
Since its partnership with LigoLab began, ECPC has enjoyed the following growth metrics:
- An increase in net collections. On average, across all specialties, ECPC has increased net collections by 35 percent. Collections tied to gastrointestinal cases represent 29 percent of that growth.
- An increase in test volume. Overall volume has risen by 31 percent, with gastrointestinal cases representing 20 percent of this overall volume increase.
- Faster order entry and better specimen control have led to sustained and desirable turnaround times despite rapid volume growth. Turnaround times for test results continue to be within two working days for 98 percent of the cases.
- An increase in staff numbers. ECPC has added six pathologists to the practice since its partnership with LigoLab began. The practice now employs 17 pathologists, with the recent additions focused on Derm and GI cases.
- An increase in new business. LigoLab’s LIS system platform has contributed to ECPC nearly tripling its client count from 2020. Validating and training new clients has become routine with ECPC handling all aspects of the onboarding process.
- Expanded offerings. ECPC now offers services for dermatological practices.
Other benefits resulting from ECPC’s partnership with LigoLab include reduced errors and compliance risk, integrated and customizable reports to match client preferences, increased interoperability with electronic health records (EHRs) and instruments, and rules and automation resulting in more productive clinical lab workflow.
Learn More: Streamline Laboratory Workflow Management With Customized Lab Reports
“With LigoLab as our lab information system partner, we are now consistently outperforming the industry standard across most metrics,” said Dilorio. “Our ability to scale and grow our practice has greatly improved.”
About ECPC
Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants (ECPC) is a thriving practice specializing in pathology services, laboratory management, and advanced diagnostic testing for hospitals, physicians, and patients throughout southern New England. ECPC's core values include a collaborative approach, fast and accurate results, dedication to patient care, 24/7 communication, and comprehensive results in an understandable format. Learn more at ecpclab.com.
About LigoLab
LigoLab is an award-winning provider of innovative end-to-end pathology lab software for medical laboratories, servicing nearly 300 facilities nationwide. As a comprehensive enterprise-grade LIS software solution, LigoLab Informatics Platform™ includes modules for anatomic pathology (anatomic pathology software), clinical laboratory (LIS healthcare), molecular diagnostics (molecular LIS), lab revenue cycle management (laboratory billing), and direct-to-consumer lab testing (TestDirectly and TestDirectly.com), all on one powerful and integrated platform that supports every role, department, every case.
LigoLab’s LIS Medical Software and Customer Alignment
LigoLab’s all-in-one medical LIS and laboratory billing (lab revenue cycle management) platform features tiered pricing tailored to accommodate clinical laboratories of varying types, sizes, and complexities.
This approach recognizes that each laboratory has unique needs, workflows, and expansion goals, and that legacy LIS systems often fail to provide optimal value in an environment where every gained efficiency and process improvement counts.
Learn More: LigoLab Informatics Platform: Uniquely Designed to Deliver Maximum Value
LigoLab’s pricing framework enables laboratories to choose the LIS system tier that best matches their current operational needs while providing a path to advance to higher tiers as their requirements develop and their business expands.
Each tier is crafted to progressively meet increased levels of complexity and functionality, ensuring a customized LIS software solution for every laboratory's specific demands.
