One of the most readily identifiable areas of revenue loss in any clinic is the flow of revenue out to separate lab testing services, outside of your clinic. Every time a patient sample is sent out for processing and testing, possible revenue is lost. Due to anti-kickback/Stark laws, you are ineligible for reimbursement of any kind from a patient sample sent out to a separate lab. The only way you can receive any revenue or any form of reimbursement from a sample sent out, is if you either own the lab it is sent to or you do it in-house.
This solution is, obviously, not right for every clinic or every situation. Due to the cost of some testing equipment, in combination with the volume of testing required for your clinic, the expense of purchasing some of the lab equipment required may not be justifiable. Many other vendors do not take into account the expenses of hiring specialists and technicians to perform the testing, the cost of accreditations, the cost of set-up and validation of your procedures, as well as finding the right piece of equipment that fits your situation instead of trying to use one brand of equipment to fit all clinic sizes.
The advantage that our company has over every other lab equipment vendor is our ability to analyze your requirements, lay out all of the costs associated with setting up your own lab, and finding the equipment that fits your clinic’s size and your needs. Too often clinics are saddled with an expensive piece of equipment that, while at first provides revenue, quickly becomes a financial burden to your business. We protect our partners by keeping abreast of the dynamic healthcare reforms taking place and make sure the equipment and procedures are helping the financial viability of your practice; otherwise, we are quick to let our partners know what testing should or should not be performed in-house.
Why now?
At this point, more so than at any other point in modern history in the United States, physicians and clinics are having to perform more work and find other ways to remain financially viable. Politics aside, the fact of the matter is that reimbursements are declining in most traditional areas of medicine and those providing health care are having to look at new ways to produce revenue for their businesses and clinics.
How much time will it take to do?
This just depends on your specific situation and requirements. As we offer a full range of lab equipment and testing services, implementation can take as little as a couple of days or it could take a couple of months. Determining what will be implemented is the first step followed by determining financing options. Equipment set-up and implementation with validation quickly follows. Becoming accredited and hiring new staff, if required, must also take place.
We help with implementation of testing from the ground up, no matter what level you are interested in and is applicable for your practice. We help with staffing, instrumentation, accreditation, validation; basically, we are able to help with every step along the wa
How much will it cost?
This is very specific to your specific needs and requirements but we will illustrate all costs to you. We have found that, in many situations, clinics that have instituted an in-house lab and failed, were saddled with expensive contracts that did not lay out all the costs associated with implementation of lab testing equipment and, with a single change in reimbursement rates, the clinics were left with a contract that was costing them money instead of helping with the viability of their business.
We are here to provide the means to financial viability and we promise to lay out all the costs associated with implementation – we want a long term relationship with our partners.
How much revenue can I expect to make?
This is dependent upon what you have implemented as well as many other factors including reimbursement rates dependent upon your location, reimbursement changes already in the works, as well as your patient population and insurance type.
We promise to work as closely with you as possible to ensure that the implementation of an in-house lab will be financially rewarding, otherwise we will instruct you that it is not feasible and we will help you find alternatives.
Who pays for this service? (Payer types)
Financing options will be discussed for helping you buy your own lab equipment but your patient population and insurance types will be taken into account to make sure owning your own lab is financially viable.
Unless your clinic is part owner in the lab, there is no legal way you can generate revenue off many lab testing services because of the anti-kickback and Stark laws.
What type of patient needs this?
What type of practice is this best suited to?
Any practice requiring any form of testing, especially if you are sending your labs out to another service.
What do I need to do to get started?
Contact us so that we can begin the process of working directly with you to understand your practice and your needs. We will then begin customizing our solution for you and explaining the options available to you.
How long will it take to get implemented?
From days to months, very dependent upon your specific scenario.
What makes this solution different to other providers of this type of product?
We focus on our partnership with you and we have developed a customizable solution that offers all forms of laboratory testing and can assist the implementation of our solution into your practice from the ground up.
Is it legal/STARK compliant/anti kick back?
In the lab testing arena, this is one of the key areas that clinics and testing services need to be aware of. STARK and other regulations help regulate testing services and can be very strict. Our services focus on maintaining compliance. We want to uphold a long term partnership with our clients so we keep an eye out for changes in legislation, key legal decisions being made, and keep abreast of all changes in order to maintain compliance in order to protect our partners as well as ourselves.
Our solutions do maintain compliance and we offer the highest legal return of investment possible.
What do I tell my patients?
Laboratory testing is necessary for the determination of disease and health of your patients. Testing has been performed on patients for a long time, to the point that patients usually do not require an explanation. Should a patient ask why a test is being performed, the test is medically necessary in order to determine the status of the health of the patient as well as in determining if any disease processes are taking place.
How does it benefit my practice?
If the situation is right, implementation of a lab within your practice can generate a very large portion of your businesses revenue. It provides efficient results on testing your patients and it can be less error-prone as your samples are being taken and studied under the same roof.
What space/staffing do I need?
Dependent on specific situation. As little as no extra space or as high as floor space required for instrumentation.
What codes do I use?
Dependent upon situation and usually not applicable unless you are referring to point-of-service urine dipstick testing only. All other CPT codes are utilized by the lab. Your specific situation will be discussed with you and all codes will be discussed at that time.
What if I don’t do this?
If your situation could benefit from the institution of an in-house lab, then you are just losing revenue when you send your samples off to be tested elsewhere. Many practices have already found the benefits of having an in-house lab and have helped secure their financial viability over the long term.
An in-house lab is not right for every clinic or every situation but, when it is, the returns more than justify any costs associated with its implementation. By offering all levels of equipment for all testing required, we are able to customize a solution that will work for you.