In 2020, Infirmary Health transitioned laboratory management to Labcorp from another commercial lab service provider. Infirmary Health leaders were looking to leverage Labcorp’s knowledge and experience in operating and managing labs to optimize laboratory workflows, expand access to world-class diagnostics testing, and streamline phlebotomy and logistics services.
Transitioning lab employees and equipment from one lab services provider to another required extensive collaboration and planning to minimize any impact on test turnaround times and patient care. Working with Infirmary Health, Labcorp created a transition plan that choreographed each step in the lab’s operations from the moment the deal closed.
Infirmary Health had a long history of working with commercial laboratories for lab operations and supply chain management but wanted to expand their capabilities. Infirmary Health selected Labcorp among other laboratories to provide additional data and analytics as well as increased cost savings.
To minimize disruption for Infirmary Health, Labcorp leveraged its deep experience managing hospital labs to design a transition plan that would consider Infirmary Health’s current lab provider and their employees. Unlike with other health system transitions, a phased approach wasn’t possible, as the former vendor’s lab employees would transition immediately once the agreement was signed.
We ultimately chose Labcorp for their demonstrated expertise in lab management. By tapping into their knowledge of laboratory policies and procedures—including their staffing and recruiting models—we were able to recruit and retain personnel, find cost savings and enhance quality outcomes.
Ben Hansert Chief Operating Officer, Mobile Infirmary, and Vice President of System Support Services – Laboratory, Infirmary Health
One of the team’s first actions was hiring a full-time on-site lab director. Five months prior to the transition, the newly hired director moved to Alabama to become acquainted with the area, the health system and the people.
Labcorp believed this investment in the short-term was the right thing to do for the lab, employees and patients. This enabled the new lab director to get a firm grasp of the system’s goals, opportunities and challenges so improvements could start on day one.
Part of the transition planning process revealed aging chemistry equipment at Infirmary Health, so Labcorp recommended, ordered and installed new analyzers prior to the transition. Because the transition was from another commercial lab service provider, some actions could only legally take place the day the new provider took over.
To avoid any negative impacts to patients, Labcorp leaders and vendors from across the country were flown in to be on-site for the midnight changeover to train staff, run testing and confirm the new equipment functioned properly.
Once on-site, the support team remained there 24 hours a day, for weeks, to help lab staff feel comfortable with the new equipment.
As part of its standard laboratory management arrangement, Labcorp installed robust reporting tools to provide performance metrics and real-time data on the Infirmary Health lab, including Visiun®. This proprietary lab management software is the leading provider of performance analytics for the laboratory industry.
Visiun combines evidence-based guidelines with real-world benchmarking data to provide meaningful and actionable clinical intelligence and analytics to help monitor key performance indicators. For Infirmary Health, this data helped drive continuous, real-time improvement efforts in staffing, productivity and service.
With this new level of support, Infirmary Health received a daily dashboard showing the prior day’s work, as well as a second dashboard every afternoon showing that morning’s results.
The daily dashboard:
Making daily data-informed decisions has been a key factor in supporting Infirmary Health’s performance. In 2023, when the entire healthcare industry continued to face staffing challenges, the new data reporting capabilities identified challenges with phlebotomy personnel before it became a major issue. Labcorp was able to quickly adjust service and staffing levels—reducing employee burden and improving patient care.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, Labcorp suggested a lab stewardship program. A test utilization
committee was quickly implemented, resulting in over $200,000 a year in annual cost savings for Infirmary
Health.
Currently, Labcorp and Infirmary Health are discussing savings around blood product utilization with more to come.
Infirmary Health has asked Labcorp to bring them any and all suggestions because the partnership has gone so well. This proves that collaboration, shared goals and a common vision are essential elements in a lab management partnership’s success.
Karen Walsh Director of Hospital Operations, Labcorp
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