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Cost of Inaction: The Dire Consequences of Neglecting Modernization in Laboratory Operations and Informatics
July 18, 2024
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In today's ever-evolving medical landscape, characterized by declining reimbursements, staffing shortages, and competitive and regulatory pressures, advanced laboratory information systems (LIS systems) are no longer a luxury but a necessity.
Modern laboratory information systems (also referred to as LIS software or pathology report software) are the backbone of any clinical laboratory or pathology group, supporting clinical laboratory management of patient and sample data, automating tasks and lab workflow, and interfacing with third-party laboratory software systems.
These robust LIS systems are built by laboratory information system vendors that support the customer, providing game-changing lab report customization and delivery options, interoperability, and even laboratory billing solutions that fully manage an in-house laboratory revenue cycle management (lab RCM) process.
However, despite the clear benefits, many medical laboratories continue to operate with legacy and inadequate medical LIS systems that can’t drive operational modernization.
By sticking with outdated LIS systems for their pathology software needs, these medical labs represent the cost of inaction, and this inaction can be far more expensive in the long run when compared with investing in a modern, efficient, and scalable LIS system.
Learn More: A Conversation With LIS System Administrator Kristie Becerra
A Failure to Modernize and the High Risk of Sticking with Outdated Laboratory Information Systems
As the healthcare sector and technologies evolve at an accelerated pace medical laboratories that rely on legacy laboratory information systems for their pathology lab software solution face increasing risks and missed opportunities.
That’s because there are direct costs associated with outdated laboratory information systems.
Cost Increases Over Time
Legacy LIS systems typically have elements of outdated hardware and software functionality not supported by the LIS company and other lab vendors and manufacturers. As a medical laboratory information system ages, the likelihood of LIS system failure increases dramatically, potentially causing major downtime and disruption of lab operations, a worst-case scenario for any lab. Additionally, as the LIS software ages, a larger percentage of the IT budget will need to be spent on LIS system operations and maintenance.
Learn More: How do I Know if My Laboratory has Outgrown its LIS System?
Cost of Reliability
Legacy LIS systems typically aren’t equipped to handle the current volumes or the complexity of the tests that modern labs are running, leading to slowdowns, bottlenecks, and manual workarounds. These inefficiencies can have a significant impact on turnaround times, which in turn can adversely affect patient care and client satisfaction.
Cost of Functionality
Legacy laboratory information systems don’t have modern features like cloud computing and advanced lab analytics, limiting a lab's ability to adapt and change when the business climate calls for it. In cases such as these lab leaders often opt for short-sighted pathology lab management solutions by adding additional software products and intra-system interfaces to fill the gaps. This creates a spaghetti bowl of laboratory software systems that are costly to maintain and susceptible to synchronization issues and inconsistent data. Rather than having one source of informational truth, the LIS system becomes a liability and the quality and integrity of the data are unassured.
Learn More: The Power of Integration: Unleashing the Potential of LigoLab's LIS System & Lab RCM Platform
Cost of Competitive Edge
Thanks to scalability constraints and configuration complexity legacy LIS systems keep labs from reaching their full potential. They are at a competitive disadvantage when compared with their technologically adept competitors. For example, legacy laboratory information system companies often charge thousands of dollars for any requested configuration change, and then weeks and even months go by before the request is completed. Even worse, sometimes the LIS company ignores the request. Adding insult to injury, that same request might’ve taken just minutes with a modern and flexible medical LIS system that allows lab staff to make the changes in-house without external help.
Learn More: What You Need to Know Before Contracting with a Laboratory Information System (LIS) Company
Cost of Stagnation
Legacy lab information systems were not designed to evolve. They are static and rigid. This type of LIS model is suited for the reality of the time it was built, rather than the present day. Instead of supporting continuous development that benefits the lab, this antiquated LIS system software creates an artificial ceiling for growth and becomes a liability with time.
Cost of Revenue
Relying on old laboratory information systems likely means labs will experience a decrease in net collections over time due to revenue leakage. Legacy LIS systems often struggle in terms of laboratory billing integration and code capture thanks to data silos and the need to synchronize among disparate systems. The best LIS software platforms overcome this by enabling the laboratory billing process (RCM cycle) to start as the order enters the lab, and by offering a suite of lab revenue cycle management (RCM) tools (like demographic check, address validation, insurance discovery, and eligibility verification) that curtail clerical mistakes and reduce the potential for denials.
Cost of Missed Opportunity
By sticking with legacy laboratory information systems medical labs are prevented from taking advantage of new technologies, such as digital pathology solutions, automation, artificial intelligence, interoperability with third parties and instrumentation, and data analytics. These are examples of how labs can become tech-enabled to enhance their services and improve patient care. In today's competitive healthcare LIS landscape, with costs rising and margins falling, the ability to innovate is crucial for a lab’s survival. By clinging to old LIS lab solutions, these organizations miss out on harnessing available and innovative tools to improve their operations and offer more advanced services.
Learn More: How AI Can Propel Medical Laboratories into a New Era of Growth
Cost of Compliance and Security
Legacy LIS systems increase the potential for errors and lab data security breaches that expose the lab and the patient. Additionally, with healthcare’s ever-changing rules and standards, labs equipped with legacy laboratory information system software often struggle to keep up with the changes, resulting in non-compliance and regulatory penalties.
Cost of Labor
A lack of modern integration capabilities in legacy LIS systems leads to inefficient clinical laboratory management and manual processes. The best LIS systems have automation features and maximum interoperability, whereas legacy pathology LIS systems likely require lab personnel to enter lab orders and patient data into these systems manually. During processing, lab technicians may also need to redundantly input or retrieve data from multiple sources and take the time to search through physical records or contact other departments for missing information. Additionally, outdated laboratory information systems are often subject to inefficient sample tracking and subpar reporting and test analysis capabilities. Add to this the need for frequent maintenance and lab technicians troubleshooting technical issues related to the LIS system software, and it’s easy to see how a legacy LIS in healthcare creates unnecessary and time-consuming manual steps that are prone to error and bottlenecks, adversely affecting processing times.
Learn More: How Modern Laboratory Information Systems Can Protect Against External Threats Like Labor Shortages
Cost of Frustration
Legacy LIS systems can also directly affect the morale of lab personnel. Working with outdated pathology lab reporting software that leads to inefficient lab workflow and time-consuming manual processes can decrease job satisfaction and make it much harder for the lab to attract and retain skilled employees.
Cost of Patient Care
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the cost of patient care. In an age where precision medicine is becoming more and more prevalent, having medical LIS systems that can handle complex genomic and molecular tests is crucial. Legacy LIS systems that can’t support this type of testing limit a lab's ability to provide the best possible patient care.
Learn More: Comparing LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software
Advanced Laboratory Information Systems Eliminate Bottlenecks and Drive Lab Growth
In contrast to legacy laboratory information systems, a modern laboratory information system offers several advantages, starting with improved efficiency and patient safety and continuing into cost savings and increased revenue opportunities.
A modern lab information system is designed to handle high volumes of complex tests, offering streamlined clinical laboratory management that reduces errors, automates processes, maximizes connectivity, and improves turnaround times. It can seamlessly integrate with other laboratory software systems minus the data silos and redundant steps that often plague legacy LIS systems, reducing labor costs and enhancing data accuracy.
Additionally, a modern laboratory information system platform is designed to support the latest testing technologies and methodologies, like precision medicine, laboratory revenue cycle management, and direct-to-consumer testing (TestDirectly and TestDirectly.com), enabling the lab to offer the most advanced care to its patients.
Investing in modern LIS systems is not just about reducing costs, it's about positioning your clinical laboratory or anatomic pathology group for future success. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, medical labs must be able to adapt quickly to changing business needs.
By teaming with the best LIS software vendors and investing in modern pathology management software, labs can ensure they are ready to handle whatever the future holds, from new testing technologies to increased service demands.
While the upfront cost of transitioning to a new LIS system can be significant, the long-term savings and benefits like improved efficiency, competitiveness, revenue, and future-readiness far outweigh these initial costs.
As it turns out, the real cost is inaction from the laboratory, one that unfortunately only multiplies exponentially over time. For laboratories seeking to minimize threats and thrive in today's fast-paced healthcare environment, the choice is clear: invest in modern laboratory information systems and leave outdated LIS systems behind.
Your Time is Precious: Let LigoLab Handle Your LIS System Transition
Understandably, many labs dread a switch to a new LIS laboratory information system. The prospect of dedicating time and resources to the transition can feel daunting, and with a seemingly unending list of tasks, the default decision often becomes "We don't have the time for change."
That’s unfortunate because hidden and often overlooked costs for this indecision include ongoing inefficiencies, limitations, and missed growth opportunities. Ultimately, the time you believe you're saving is probably not a reality and the old LIS system will cost you more over the long run.
At LigoLab, we understand these concerns intimately. That's why we've designed a process that takes the burden off your shoulders. Our implementation methodology is all about doing the heavy lifting for you.
You’re not expected to become IT or LIS system implementation experts overnight - that's our job. Our team of seasoned professionals works closely with your staff to handle the details of the transition, making it as seamless as possible.
We start by taking the time to fully understand your unique lab workflow, LIS and RCM processes, and business needs. This enables us to configure and adapt our laboratory information system software platform to mirror your existing operations while introducing efficiencies that drive productivity.
Our team handles the data migration, LIS system configuration, and user training. Our iterative testing and validation processes ensure everything works as expected before the final switchover.
And we don't stop there - we stay with you post-implementation. Our ongoing support and constant LIS system updates ensure you're always at the forefront of laboratory innovation, without additional time or resource investment on your part.
Learn More: Navigating the Future of Pathology: The LigoLab Advantage
The decision to upgrade your medical laboratory information system is a strategic move toward greater efficiency, growth, and competitive advantage. Let LigoLab handle the transition, so you can focus on what you do best: delivering exceptional laboratory services.
It's time to stop saying, "We don't have time!"
Ready to discuss how LigoLab can help you navigate a game-changing LIS system transition? Then let's connect.
Click Here to schedule a call with one of our talented laboratory information system product specialists.
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LigoLab Case Study - Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants
“Before our first LigoLab implementation, we were at the mercy of legacy LIS systems that were extremely limiting and rigid. Because of this, our growth potential was restricted. But with LigoLab, our growth potential is almost limitless.”
-Kristen Conley, ECPC’s Chief Information Officer
Read the case study linked below and learn how Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants streamlined operations, facilitated business growth, and maintained its high standard of service quality by implementing LigoLab’s modern and agile laboratory information system software.
