The Lab Guy

Edition: February 2010 - Vol 18 Number 02
Article#: 3371
Author: Tim Dumas

As a lab consultant, I’m often called to a medical office to assist with setting up a new lab or to upgrade an existing waived lab. I do the evaluations, recommend the correct analyzer and then help the office shop for the equipment. I like to start the shopping process with the office’s current distributor. The sales reps are always happy to get the business.

The conversations I have had with reps have some common comments:

• “Gee! I didn’t even know the office was interested in doing more lab work.” (Turns out the rep might not have asked or offered.)

• “Wow! I can’t believe the revenue this will generate.” (Reps should know all the benefits of the products they sell, including ROI.)

• “I don’t understand all the CLIA stuff. It seems like a lot of work.” (Actually, it’s not as hard as you think.)

As you can see, reps don’t always know, believe or understand the impact that physician-office-lab testing can have on their customers. Repertoire readers know that to succeed, you must commit to 1) knowing your customers’ needs, 2) believing in your products and their benefits to your customers, and 3) understanding that the outcome of a sale is directly proportional to the work put into a sale.

Here are a few simple questions and tips to get you started to qualify your customers’ needs as they relate to POL testing:

• Does the office currently do waived testing? I am not aware of any medical office today that does not do some sort of waived tests – rapid streps, urine dip sticks, pregnancy and flu, to name a few. To bill for these tests, they must have a CLIA certificate. If you know of some offices that do not perform any lab test, start your selling efforts there.

• If the office is doing waived testing, do you know how much they get reimbursed for each test? Check the CPT billing code with the state CMS reimbursement. This information can be found at www.cms.hhs.gov/clia. If revenue is a problem for the office, suggest a less expensive kit for them to try, if one is available. If you can save the office money they will trust you even more.

• What other test could they offer their patients? Are they a specialty practice, such as pediatrics, internal med, urology or oncology? Discover which tests the office would most benefit from and learn its availability. For example, peds might be interested in lead screens and neonate bilirubins, while internal meds do a lot of A1c testing (which can be waived). Your company should be helping you keep up with the latest technology, but you can stay current by reading the lab trade journals, including Medical Laboratory Observer, ADVANCE for the Administrators of the Laboratory and Clinical Lab Products).

Oftentimes, doctors don’t know a test is available to run in the office. If that is the case, supply them with the test’s CPT code, reimbursement, medical benefits, turn-around time, cost per test and an idea of revenue generated for the practice. They will thank you for the information.

Next time we will discuss upgrading to a non-waived lab and calculating ROI for those tests.