It’s always been a challenge for medical laboratories to increase their profit margin. Whether it is an independent or associated lab_ the challenges are always there. However, in this article, I have particularly featured those solutions that can help pathologists to increase their source of income generation. Back in the early 2000s, many healthcare providers attempted to unleash the potential opportunities in the pathology practice. The core purpose of this trend was to discover if there was a high enough profit margin in this specialty of a medical laboratory. This idea also got famous because it allowed lab technicians from multiple medical groups to work under one roof. This environment was best suitable for pathologists in a way that it accommodated a whole team of lab professionals. So they could work under single supervision and they could easily serve multiple practices.

So Which Factors Influenced The Pathology Practice?

Following factors let down medical professionals to encourage pathology labs for their practice;

1. Lack Of Assurance:

Although, it seems like an ideal picture of a well-organized healthcare system. But there arose a problem in that system. When the government felt that pathologists could send the specimen to any doctor in any state. So there came an issue of data breaching or unauthorized access to confidential information. Therefore, the federal and many state governments highlighted this issue and reinforced to shut down many pathology laboratory condominiums.

2. Narrow Networks:

No matter what is the size, many pathology laboratories experience the major problem of being out-of-network.  It also creates an issue for patients as well. Because they have to pay more for diagnostic tests than to ones within their network. Especially, when we are talking about associated pathology labs then we can’t neglect the struggles of doctors as well. Due to higher expenses, these doctors also found it difficult to elevate a consistent customer-base for their practice. Because patients generally became unwilling to pay the higher costs to those medical practices who charge an extra amount.

Are There Any Chances For Pathologists To Increase Their Income?

Certainly, yes! All they need is a comprehensive suite of healthcare revenue cycle management services. After the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, there is no medical professional or even a single patient that can neglect the significance of pathology labs. So we can say that this pandemic has also increased the opportunities for pathologists. Still, they need to adopt strategies that can help them to manage their business operations and discover areas of improvement. Here’s how pathologists can drive optimized results for their business to unleash the full potential of their practice;

1. Outsource Pathology Billing Services:

Many healthcare providers prefer to collaborate with highly reliable laboratory medical billing companies. So they can easily collaborate with a team of lab billing specialists who manage their accounts. In this way, when a dedicated workforce will monitor every ins and outs of your account receivables then you don’t need to worry about bad debts anymore. In my opinion, pathologists should also shift towards advanced solutions and hire a lab billing company. So they will collect payments from the government, private insurance or private pay on their behalf. Although, practitioners should also demand complete transparency through the medical billing system. Since a well-established lab medical billing company always offers to provide regular analytical reports. Hence, practitioners can look into the progress of the complete healthcare revenue cycle management procedure and evaluate the results. As a result, it helps to maintain a trust level between the healthcare professionals and the medical billing agency.

2. Prefer Adaptability:

Always remember that “evolution is the key to sustainability and long term existence”. So if you want to make your pathology lab keep growing then you have to consistently adapt to innovation. We have all observed that the healthcare community has always suffered from new challenges and problems. Therefore, it is the primary responsibility of every healthcare professional to invoke innovation throughout their journey. Especially, when it comes to pricing, pathologists should focus only on adaptability. With the advent of new payment models, the perspective of operating a pathology lab has changed completely. Therefore, pathologists should always stay proactive to facilitate their patients with new payment methods and also change their pricing structure.

3. Organize Operations:

It’s just not like that if a pathology laboratory can serve multiple medical practices then it should not focus on a well-defined objective. They should create a well-structured plan to manage the versatile nature of their practice in a well-organized way. The basic strategy is to simply concentrate on the efficient flow of specimens and patients. Because it is impossible to stop the flow of any of these factors. While pathologists should also understand the current requirements and expectations of the healthcare professionals. In this way, they can align better strategies that can help them continually improve. Have you prepared a well-focused plan for your lab? Laboratory Billings is here to help you deal with all the challenges so you can come out as the best performing pathology practice. Our complete suite of medical billing and coding solution helps practitioners to expand their business growth with reliability. Contact us! To acquire the assistance of professional medical billers. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]