CONTRIBUTOR

Laura Mueller
Essential Insights contributor, healthcare writer
Featured experts

Emily Berlin
Director, Strategic Marketing for Laboratory Products, Cardinal Health

Chris Kerski
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Laboratory Products, Cardinal Health
Every day, hospital lab professionals process thousands of samples a day, producing a wealth of information with far-reaching benefits for hospitals and their patients. This valuable information not only helps drive individual patient care decisions, it's evolving the hospital lab into a more strategic role of a data center.
That's because as healthcare continues its shift to value-based care, opportunities to measure, analyze, track, and make informed decisions based on patient data are becoming increasingly important. Additionally, at the health system level, aggregate data can support population health efforts.
In the age of data-driven care, here are three key ways the laboratory serves as a strategic asset for health systems.
1. Better patient management
Effective utilization of lab data provides tremendous value. Representing just 2.3 percent of U.S. healthcare expenditures, appropriate laboratory testing can reduce hospital stays and help avoid unnecessary procedures, medications, and adverse health effects. For example, lab testing can identify specific gene mutations that are indicative of cancer and if a patient has the appropriate genetic profile for costly, targeted oncology drugs—saving money through proper drug utilization. In terms of total cost, efficient use of lab testing can save the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $900 million a year in avoidable healthcare spending.
“Laboratory data is the starting point of monitoring patients' health," said Emily Berlin, director of Strategic Marketing for Laboratory Products at Cardinal Health. It provides a “longitudinal view" of health outcomes over time, Berlin added, with reliable insights into the metrics that matter most when determining next steps for optimal care. That means health systems can work smarter and more efficiently, with less guesswork driving their decision making.
2. Keeping patients in the network
In-hospital laboratories simplify the process of keeping patient data all in one place. Owning this data is key—it helps ensure the efficiency of data utilization and keeps patients, and their data, in network.
“Hospitals have an untapped asset in this information, and there is tremendous knowledge that can be gleaned from the data that's being collected in the lab," said Chris Kerski, senior vice president and general manager of Laboratory Products at Cardinal Health. This includes lab testing conducted as part of an inpatient protocol of care, as well as routine outpatient testing.
“All of that data already resides within the health record of a patient," Kerski added. "Having access to this data across a health system is a fundamental part of continuity of care and makes it convenient for patients to receive more of their care within a system."
3. Improving population health management
Large sets of clinical data, including lab data, provide major opportunities for health systems to analyze metrics and locate broad trends, zeroing in on ways to improve the management of key populations and keep their costs down. This is crucial when it comes to reducing the burden of chronic illnesses, which cost the U.S. healthcare system $1.1 trillion in 2016.
For example, the cost of lifetime care for a non-compliant patient with diabetes can run upwards of $80,000, compared to just $1,684 for a patient receiving regular diagnostic testing. Data-driven care afforded by hospital laboratories allows health systems to monitor wellness and mitigate risks, identifying costly care indicators before they turn into bigger issues.
Lab data helps hospitals intervene sooner with their patient populations, Berlin said, and these intervening steps enable hospitals to “focus more on wellness or managing a disease, as opposed to having to treat a patient once an event has happened." This approach is more convenient for both the patient and hospital, improving not just the bottom line but also the patient experience. In an era of consumer-driven healthcare and hospital star ratings, improving the patient experience can help enhance the public perception of a health system.


Looking ahead
The laboratory has always served an important role in hospitals, but it's an even greater strategic asset now as healthcare shifts to become more value-based and data-driven.
The key for health systems will be to tap the potential of this big data and have analytics experts partner with lab professionals to identify trends and better manage population health.
“While the lab is often viewed as a commodity, savvy health system leaders know the lab is a strategic asset that can help them optimize the care they provide – both at the patient and population level,” Kerski said.
Know a laboratory professional who is a strategic asset to your health system?
Nominate outstanding professionals for inclusion in The Cardinal Health™ Laboratory Excellence List 2019.