How Physicians Can Reach the Full Potential of Ancillary Laboratory Services

Ancillary services play a crucial role in enhancing patient care while supporting the operational and financial health of physician practices. Among these services, ancillary diagnostic services, such as laboratory testing, are integral to timely diagnoses, effective treatment plans, and improved patient satisfaction. However, many practices overlook opportunities to optimize how these laboratory services impact their patients and operations. From patient costs to insurance billing, the logistics can be overwhelming to physicians and their staff. Yet, efficient ancillary laboratory services can enhance patient care and improve practice sustainability.

Phytest helps address these challenges through tailored laboratory revenue solutions that improve operational efficiency and support patient affordability—without requiring any changes to a practice’s existing workflows or overhead.

Understanding Ancillary Services and Their Role in Healthcare

What are ancillary services? Ancillary services are supplemental healthcare services that support primary patient care. These services fall into three categories: diagnostic, therapeutic, and custodial. Diagnostic ancillary services, including laboratory tests, imaging, and pathology, play a vital role in detecting diseases, monitoring conditions, and guiding treatment decisions.

Laboratory services are among the most frequently utilized ancillary services in physician practices. Common laboratory ancillary service examples are pathology testing, blood tests, and biopsies. Timely lab results inform critical decisions, and patients increasingly expect both quick turnaround times and clarity around their test results and associated costs.

Why Ancillary Laboratory Services Matter to Patients and Practices

Improving the Patient Experience

When patients undergo laboratory testing, their experience extends beyond the physician visit. It includes receiving results, understanding charges, and navigating billing communications. Many practices send laboratory tests to large third-party reference labs. While this approach is common, it can lead to patient confusion, especially when bills arrive and they call the office of the practice, not the laboratory. Patients often have questions about the charges or struggle to understand their bill and coverage. When physician office staff directs the patient to the laboratory as the billing entity, this inefficient communication pathway can wear on the patient experience in their time of need.

Through Phytest’s 27 years of experience, we have shown that effective management of ancillary lab services can mitigate these communication challenges. When patients know what to expect regarding test costs and can receive detailed, expert communication during the billing processes, it reduces confusion and builds trust in the practice. By enhancing transparency and keeping patients informed, practices can improve satisfaction scores and foster stronger patient relationships.

Operational Benefits for Practices

Optimizing ancillary diagnostic laboratory services isn’t just about patient satisfaction, it can also strengthen practice operations. Partnering with an informed laboratory revenue services provider, like Phytest, can strengthen a practice operationally in several ways:

1. Access to Expert Knowledge: Gain a partner who stays informed on laboratory reimbursement trends, updates, and policy changes at both commercial and federal payer levels. This information empowers practices to navigate the evolving healthcare landscape more effectively.
2. Enhanced Insights and Reporting: Receive comprehensive data and reporting on your practice’s use of ancillary laboratory services. These insights help you make better-informed decisions regarding service offerings and your patient population trends, ensuring your practice meets both clinical and operational needs.
3. Cost Reduction for Sustainability: Work with a partner who helps reduce testing costs without altering your existing workflows or processes. Lower testing expenses improve your practice’s financial sustainability and positively impact your bottom line while ensuring patients receive affordable care.

By leveraging these operational enhancements, physician practices can better align their diagnostic services with patient needs while gaining insights into financial performance.

Managing Laboratory Test Costs to Improve Patient Outcomes

Laboratory testing costs can be a significant concern for patients, especially when out-of-network claims are involved. High out-of-pocket expenses may discourage patients from completing recommended tests, potentially delaying diagnoses and treatment.

By taking steps to manage these costs more effectively, practices can help ensure that financial barriers do not prevent patients from receiving essential care. Studies find that:

• Patient retention: Providing affordable ancillary services can improve patient satisfaction, potentially leading to increased patient loyalty and positive feedback.
• Patient treatment plans: Affordable laboratory testing and expert support when understanding their claims reduces the likelihood of patients postponing or neglecting follow up appointments due to frustrations during the billing process.
• Patient convenience: Integrating managed ancillary laboratory services such as easy to understand statements, numerous payment options, and even payment plans enhance convenience for the patient when receiving ancillary diagnostic services from your practice.

Research shows that when patients understand the financial aspects of their care and see that their providers are mindful of costs, adherence to diagnostic recommendations improves, leading to better health outcomes.

Practical Considerations for Practices to Optimize Ancillary Diagnostic Services

When examining how ancillary diagnostic services fit into a physician practice, it’s essential to ask key questions that reveal hidden opportunities for improvement.

Practices should consider the following:

1. Lower the cost of laboratory tests: How does your practice ensure the most affordable laboratory test offerings for patients?
2. Enhance patient communication: What challenges have you faced with patient communication with their laboratory claims?
3. Strengthen practice and clinical value: How do ancillary laboratory services factor into the overall patient experience in your practice?
4. Unlock new areas of operational and financial opportunity: Do you have any current reporting and insight into your practice’s ancillary laboratory services?

Conclusion

Ancillary diagnostic services are vital to comprehensive patient care, particularly laboratory testing. Yet many practices miss opportunities to fully leverage their benefits. By leveraging the knowledge of the laboratory reimbursement landscape from an experienced partner like Phytest, enhancing patient communication, and helping patients manage testing costs, physician practices can deliver better patient experiences while reducing administrative burdens. Thoughtful optimization of these services not only benefits patients but also strengthens the practice’s reputation, utilization of diagnostic testing, and bottom line.

Optimizing ancillary laboratory services doesn’t have to be complicated—but the impact on patient satisfaction, operational ease, and overall outcomes can be substantial.