How to modernize your lab and make money doing it

By Michael Kalinowski

First, a little bit about me.

After 20 years of working in professional sports I was recently given a chance to apply my Public Relations skills and expertise in another forum. 

Software Technology! 

Yes, at first glance there wouldn’t seem to be a lot of commonality between the two.  Sports are all about who won, and who lost.  It’s very black and white.  It’s also very emotional for those involved in the day-to-day operations, and the fans who invest their time and money by supporting the team.    

At first, I’ll admit that I felt lost.  There was lots of new words and terminologies to learn and I, like most people, really hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about what happens to a specimen in a lab.  What’s an LIS?  RCM?  I didn’t have a clue.

But over the past couple of months I’ve taken a deep dive into the technology, specifically into the world of the pathologist and the land of laboratory information systems, and I’ve found similarities between athletes and pathologists. 

Provide them with the necessary resources and tools, and they can accomplish amazing things.

In sports, it literally takes a team effort to be successful.  And that team effort goes beyond the players and coaches to include every department within that organization (scouting, development, ticket sales, marketing, communications, analytics, etc.). 

Most important of all is ownership.  If ownership has a unified vision, believes in the organization and invests valuable resources into it, that organization can flourish both on the field of play and with increased value in the marketplace.

I’ve quickly found that investing money and resources into a professional sports franchise is akin to using the newest forms of technology to improve efficiencies, workflows and results in a pathology or clinical lab. 

Modern labs know that the key to growth and the key to improved patient care are connected by a laboratory information system that they can use as a powerful tool to drive business growth, reduce labor costs and increases revenue while reducing errors/risk.

Great teams win on the field, at the rink, or on the court.  Great companies win with new technologies that empower employees to be more efficient, more productive and in-turn, make customers happy.

LigoLab, the makers of the comprehensive laboratory information system (LIS) and revenue cycle management (RCM) platform known as the LigoLab AP/LIS + RCM, are experts in providing laboratories with the tools they need to unify their operations.  Ligo in Latin means “to unite” and that’s what the LigoLab platform does. It’s one system that unites all aspects of the lab, from the order entry of a sample to billing.   

“When technology is done right, the extraordinary becomes ordinary,” said Suren Avunjian, LigoLab CEO. “The workflow becomes intuitive, efficient and invisible…a part of your thinking process.” 

“The results shown by our partner laboratories are that they significantly grow their practices, optimize workflow and eliminate errors and safety issues with our lab solution,” said Avunjian.

Add to that a faster turnaround time for patients and providers/clinicians/doctors to learn the results of their tests and you have a winning combination. 

While researching on the job, I quickly learned that today’s pathology and clinical laboratories are under pressure.  Patient volumes are on the rise and reimbursements for services provided are being cut.  It’s essential that modern-day labs adopt innovative technologies and processes to improve relationships with customers and partners, streamline operations and maximize value.

LigoLab offers robust solutions for labs, no matter the size. That includes a new billing/revenue cycle management module (RCM), all on a single integrated software infrastructure.  It can be adjusted to meet the specific needs of the client because the integrated platform is very configurable.

And, unlike a traditional, legacy LIS, LigoLab asks for no upfront capital investment or licensing fees. Instead it offers an aligned pricing model that is transactional. Through shared risk, lab clients  and LigoLab are aligned and grow together.  

In professional sports terms, this means that by choosing LigoLab, pathology and clinical labs across the country don’t have to sign an expensive free agent with a huge signing bonus (big money upfront) to remain competitive.  Instead the LigoLab model is comparable to a team drafting young prospects and developing its own talent, a much more cost effective alternative.

So can you modernize your lab and make money at the same time?  Yes you can, thanks to LigoLab, which over the past 13 years has been fine-tuning its lab solution. 

“We have finally reached our vision of having one solution that’s able to serve every department and every process in a laboratory from operations to finances,” said Avunjian.  “With a product and a solution like this, now we’re ready to fully serve the market. To bring awareness to and replicate what we’ve done at many other labs throughout the nation.”

Michael Kalinowski joined LigoLab as its Director of Communications and Marketing in August.  LigoLab LLC is a privately owned and profitable company that’s called the Los Angeles area its home since 2006.  For more information visit LigoLab.com. 

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