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Remembering COVID: TestDirectly Simplifies Workflows and Improves Turnaround Times
February 11, 2025
The COVID-19 pandemic provided invaluable lessons in resilience, innovation, and preparedness for laboratory information system/LIS software vendors and the medical laboratories they support. Moving forward, our collective responsibility will be continued prioritization of adaptability, technology, collaboration, and workforce well-being to build on these experiences and create an even stronger, more resilient future.
By applying these insights, laboratory information system companies and medical laboratory professionals can enhance their ability to navigate future public health challenges while delivering exceptional patient care.
With this in mind, let’s take a moment to reflect on the experiences of laboratory professionals during the pandemic. As we revisit the impact of COVID-19, it's important to recognize the positive stories and lessons that emerged from this global crisis.
Here’s an interesting article originally published on September 8, 2020.
TestDirectly’s Direct-to-Consumer Lab Testing Innovations and Direct-to-Consumer Labs
Los Angeles, CA - Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, directors and managers across the country have been searching for ways to simplify laboratory workflow management and accelerate test results to meet the growing demand for more access to COVID-19 testing. They’ve been searching far and wide for new and innovative ways to boost capacity, remove testing backlogs, eliminate paper requisitions, improve turnaround times, and better manage patient follow-up.
Learn More: Streamline Laboratory Workflow Management With Customized Lab Reports & Unmatched Client Support
Thanks to the recent development of LigoLab’s TestDirectly direct-to-consumer lab testing portal, medical laboratories now have a molecular lab software solution that effectively addresses all the issues they’ve been facing.
Learn More: What is the Best LIS Software for Molecular Testing Labs?
“TestDirectly, our direct-to-consumer lab testing platform, targets and eliminates the barriers that can cause reporting delays and it frees laboratories from having to commit large amounts of time to manual order entry and resources for case follow-up,” said LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian, who noted the LIS company developed, designed, and brought TestDirectly to the market just as the negative effects of COVID were taking hold.
“The TestDirectly portal connects laboratories and collection centers with patients, government agencies, employers, and physicians for fast and safe COVID-19 testing, with results sent directly back to patients (via consumer lab reports) and providers minutes after the instrument releases the results,” said Avunjian. “Additionally, we assist with follow-up by providing administrative portals where test results and prevalence can be securely monitored in real-time. This allows for quick isolation of positive COVID-19 cases and prevention of damaging outbreaks.”
Case Study: Leading Molecular LIS Lab Teams with TestDirectly to Provide State-Wide COVID-19 School Surveillance Testing
TestDirectly and Direct-to-Consumer Lab Testing Workflows
The TestDirectly direct-to-consumer lab testing portal can be deployed quickly to interface with all laboratory information systems (healthcare LIS), laboratory billing system software, and test instrumentation. Once deployed, it replaces manual processes with an electronic clinical lab workflow that starts when a patient self-registers for a test on any computer or mobile device.
From there, the streamlined laboratory workflow management process continues and covers the scheduling of an appointment at a collection center, the sample collection, the report delivery, and the distribution of the TestDirectly results as consumer lab reports, all at a level of efficiency and speed needed for patients and officials to take action and control the spread of the virus.
Case Study: How TestDirectly Results Helped DuPage County Create a More Efficient COVID-19 Drive-Through
TestDirectly removes the typical bottlenecks resulting from labs entering patient data from paper requisitions into their lab information system software. This is a big and positive development because of the data entry errors associated with such a process.
By switching to an electronic clinical lab workflow that supports remote patient self-registration and contactless/paperless drive-through or onsite/dispatched sample collections, significant time is saved, enabling the specimens that arrive at the laboratory to be quickly scanned in as electronic orders and then go straight to processing.
As soon as test results are finalized and verified, consumer lab reports are created and immediately delivered from the LIS system to the TestDirectly direct-to-consumer lab testing portal. Soon after, patients are notified that their TestDirectly results are ready to be reviewed by accessing the reports section of the portal via TestDirectly.com.
From collection to reporting, patients typically receive their results within a 48-hour window at TestDirectly.com, no laboratory follow-up is needed, and the officials monitoring the results can take immediate action when positive cases are identified.
TestDirectly and TestDirectly.com: A Better Way to Collect, Process, and Report COVID-19 Tests
The TestDirectly direct-to-consumer lab testing portal works with all LIS software. It helps laboratories quickly move to an electronic clinical lab workflow that addresses the order entry bottleneck and reduces data entry errors. TestDirectly supports drive-through and on-site collections with a simplified workflow that expedites patient data collection, report delivery, and follow-up. It enables laboratories to boost capacity and improve turnaround times.
Find out more by reading the TestDirectly and TestDirectly.com product overview.
Product Overview: Highlighting the Versatility of the TestDirectly Direct-to-Consumer Lab Testing Portal
LigoLab: Innovative and Scalable Pathology Lab Software Solutions
In Latin, Ligo means “to unite,” and that’s exactly what LigoLab has done for its 300+ laboratory clients nationwide. The pathology software company’s comprehensive laboratory platform includes powerful and fully integrated modules for anatomic pathology (LIS pathology), clinical laboratory (healthcare LIS), molecular diagnostics (molecular LIS), and lab revenue cycle management/lab billing, all united on one unified LIS software infrastructure.
Learn More: Clinical Laboratory Management Solutions for Lab Revenue Cycle Management (Lab RCM)
With LigoLab, labs finally get end-to-end data integrity and a trusted pathology lab management partner that takes full responsibility for all their lab information system needs, minus synchronization, middleware, finger-pointing, and headaches.
Finally deciding to move away from an updated lab information system is a big decision for laboratories. LigoLab makes that decision much easier by offering a future-ready LIS laboratory information system platform that covers the entire life cycle of a specimen, aligns its pricing with laboratory goals, and minimizes disruption when making the switch.
Learn More: LigoLab Informatics Platform: Uniquely Designed to Deliver Maximum Value
