Healthcare can be chaotic for caregivers, especially when it comes to the logistics of tracking down a patient's results on tests ordered by other providers. Clinicians can spend an excessive amount of time and energy on the telephone contacting other providers' offices or having staff waste valuable time and effort that can be focused on other patient care duties.
This chaos was getting to Robert Segal, MD, CEO of Medical Offices of Manhattan. So he took matters into his own hands and founded LabFinder.com, which offers a platform operated by patients, clinicians, and labs and imaging facilities that eliminates the hassle caregivers experience when trying to lay their hands on a patient’s test results from other providers.
Earlier this month, Quest Diagnostics subscribed to LabFinder’s network. And as is commonly the case with homegrown technologies, Segal’s own practice uses the platform, too. Segal’s colleague Denise Pate, MD, an internal medicine doctor at Medical Offices of Manhattan, uses LabFinder.com and has reaped rewards, she said.
Patients can book appointments for blood tests and imaging at centers that they are certain to accept their health insurance. The tool also enables patients to view their results on the portal and store their lab and radiology results on a secure site. Those results then can be shared with patients' various providers, allowing for more productive office visits and faster diagnoses and treatments, the vendor said.
"As a primary care doctor, I frequently share patients with specialists who need to access results that I have ordered, and vice versa," Pate said, adding that the technology helps her "spend less time tracking and chasing down results."
For example, one of Pate's patients saw her gynecologist for a new breast lump. Pate had ordered a mammogram a few months prior for the patient, which was normal. The patient was able to show the gynecologist the mammogram results that were stored in her portal, which then led to additional imaging immediately.
"Without the platform access, there may have been a delay in expediting further evaluation and work-up," Pate added.
Segal said the platform currently has 325,000 registered patients, 2,000 physicians and more than 130 diagnostic centers.
"As of March 2018, the platform decreases out-of-network spending by 94 percent," Segal said. "And physician offices report receiving 64 percent fewer phone tag calls, with office staff feeling less overwhelmed."
Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
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