Many doctors’ offices wonder if there is a high enough profit margin to open their pathology laboratory. In the early 2000s, many doctors went to trying pathology condos where many different medical groups would band together and operate their labs within one building. The pathologist and his team would then work their way down the hallway each day to work for the different practices depending on their needs. While the specimens might be sent to another state to be analyzed, a doctor in the patient’s home state signed off on the report. The federal government and many state governments saw an issue with this, and most of pathology laboratory condominiums were forced to close.
A problem that many small-and-mid-size pathology labs experience is being out-of-network, and so patients had to pay more to use these facilities as opposed to ones within their network. When a doctor’s office owned their pathology lab, they would often lose the patient because the patient was unwilling to pay the higher costs.
Yes, doctors can make money by operating their pathology lab, but they must carefully manage it. Of course, doctors are already doing this in other areas of their practice in many cases.
Most doctors rely on off-site billing services to collect payments for them. It does not matter if it is from the government, private insurance, or private pay. Doctors need to be proactive in making sure that their service is not leaving money on the table. Often, this starts within the lab by making sure that workers are billing for every service that they are performing.
If you are going to make money operating a pathology lab, then you need to make sure that it stays adaptable. The need for adaptability is especially real when it comes to pricing. After the introduction of new payment rules, pathology lab operators must be proactive in changing their pricing structure. Not doing so has caused many labs to fail.
You must make the pathology lab as efficient as possible. Start during the design phase by incorporating feedback from your pathology team into your design. Concentrate on the efficient movement of specimens and people. It cannot stop at this point, however, as the process needs to be continually improved. Listening to the people operating your lab along with applying sound business practices, like lean marketing, helps to keep costs down while delighting clients.
When you are ready to implement your laboratory solutions, make sure to contact Hankins Solutions. They have the experience and knowledge to help you construct your pathology lab. Then, you can watch your practice’s profit margins grow while you provide better service to your patients. Contact Hankins Solutions about getting started with laboratory solutions today by using this company to consult on your pathology lab buildout.
