Mayo Medical Laboratories has announced new functionality to help community-based hospital laboratories leverage their Epic electronic medical records to:

• Optimize test ordering based on clinical specialty.
• Implement utilization management initiatives and best practices, including the application of clinically proven testing algorithms.
• Generate additional revenue by enabling and enhancing outreach capabilities.
• Seize control of reference laboratory spending and eliminate costly "leakage" to outside laboratories.

Traditionally, community-based health care organizations and hospital laboratories have been at a significant disadvantage against large, resource-rich commercial laboratories. Several major industry forces compound this competitive pressure, including:

• Lack of understanding among health care executives and payers regarding the pivotal role laboratory diagnostics play in influencing the total cost of care.
• False assumptions that all laboratory tests are at the same quality, regardless of the testing facility.
• Systematic targeting by commercial laboratories to buy successful laboratory outreach programs, which results in the loss of millions of dollars of revenue each year and diminishes the hospital’s influence in laboratory-testing decisions, and thus limits the hospital’s ability to implement value-based initiatives.

Better system integration with Epic will help hospital outreach programs strengthen their market position and prepare for health care reform.

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Offering New Solutions for Your Laboratory

 

Unique Solutions:

• Integrated joint test catalog to ensure the right testing options are easily available to ordering physicians.
• Optimized test-preference matching based on clinical specialty and disease state.
• Embedded access to clinical algorithms to support proper physician utilization of laboratory tests performed within the health system and by Mayo Medical Laboratories.
• Automated third-party-billing capabilities integrated into the Beaker interface.

 

Dedicated Support Services:                                                                                 

• Enhanced Foundation Test Compendium to improve the clinical mapping and test-building processes.
• Streamlined interface project plan for Epic's Beaker interface to reduce project timelines and required hospital resources to complete the project.
• Dedicated support resources to consult with the matching, building, and cross-referencing of tests to the Foundation Test Compendium.
• Tailored education and training for partner organizations, focusing on the socialization of best practices in the areas of test matching, utilization management, and laboratory-focused process improvements.

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Future Innovation

Mayo Clinic is working to develop solutions for Epic customers that:

• Enable the delivery of efficient and value-based health care to patients.
• Promote the role of laboratory diagnostics as an integral component of a patient’s diagnosis and treatment.
• Drive out waste and capture revenue currently leaving local health care markets.
• Address known challenges facing health care organizations as they leverage technology to promote integration.
• Discover new ways to improve the efficiency and utilization of test ordering.
• Provide resources and tools to help health care organizations effectively navigate EHR implementations.