Why Hospital Labs Should Offer Direct Access Testing to Consumers

In a recent article in Dark Daily,the point is made that a high percentage of millennials do not have a relationship with a primary care physician (PCP) (see:JAMA Study Shows American ’s with Primary Care Physicians Receive More High-Value Care, Even as Millennials Reject Traditional Healthcare Settings). The article goes on to offer a list of changes that hospital clinical labs could pursue in order to capture more business from millennials and other healthcare consumers and they are listed below:Dark Daily advises clinical laboratory leaders to consider changes in how they do business to better serve busy consumers. Here are a few ways to appeal to people of all ages who seek value, fast service, and connectivity:* Offer walk-in testing with no appointments.* Create easy-to-navigate online scheduling tools.* Enable patients to request tests without doctors ’ orders as the lab’s market allows.* Make results quickly available and in easy-to-understand reports.* Post test results online for patients to securely access in patient portals.* Make it easy to interact with personnel or receive information through lab websites.* Collaborate with telehealth providers.* Post prices of the most commonly ordered tests.* Use social media to promote the lab and respond to online reviews.This is a very good list and I strongly endorse all of these ways for lab leaders to engage with a greater numbers of consumers but w...

Source: Lab Soft News - June 15, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Direct Access Testing (DAT) Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Consumerism Source Type: blogs