Download our Auto-verification SWOT analysis document here.

Rome Wasn’t Built in A Day – kick-start your auto-verification strategy plan

Whether you are considering implementing an auto-verification program or wondering how to improve or optimize your current rules, you need an auto-verification strategy to kick start your program and build momentum.

There is no more important time to move your laboratory forward to derive additional value to your laboratory operations. Start by looking at how the auto-verification program will add tangible value to your lab and how it can feed into your organization’s down-stream value chain. This might require a hard look at your current ways of qualifying patient results and challenging yourself to change your workflow and operational models.

How can the auto-verification program deliver value using targeted rules that actually change the cost, revenue and patient optimization models? How can your lab deliver information faster and better qualified to reduce cost and waste while driving towards better patient test results?

Who cares, so what?

The decision to use auto-verification rules is a fundamental laboratory business and clinical initiative. Getting started is the hardest part to launch a fully functional auto-verification program.

The effort to plan, create, test and deploy a rule- based program is a big financial and technical undertaking involving all levels of laboratory management, clinical and IT expertise. A strategic road map will ensure that the auto-verification program delivers both short-term gains and long-term stability and will get you moving in the right direction.

There are several value-propositions that can be measured as an outcome of an auto-verification program to help support your business strategy:

• Real reduction in turnaround time – use of rules will eliminate manual review of approximately 80-90% results, providing measurable improvements in result delivery that directly impacts patient care.

• Reduction in duplicate testing – rules can be implemented upon order to look back to identify duplicate orders within a specified time frame. This supports reduction in real reagent and QC costs.

• Control of reruns – adding rules that restrict reruns -  reduces unnecessary testing and optimizes reagent usage.

• Reflexing the right test at the right time – rules can ensure that the appropriate test is added to the order when the data supports the new test. This also reduces laboratory costs that add to laboratory overhead.

• Reduction in post-analytical errors – post result processing rules act upon results to ensure they are reported in the appropriate units and formats all the time. Rules that are applied in the post analytic phase guard against results misinterpretation by the medical professional.

  Impact to you.
  A solid auto-verification rule strategy is your insurance policy to ensure your auto-verification program is implemented against a defined set of goals and is benchmarked against key performance indicators for long-term survival. Protect your investment in time and money in your use of auto-verification rules by spending the time to create a comprehensive plan.

What does an auto-verification strategy plan look like?

• Statement of purpose
  A high-level description identifies the reason for implementing or expanding your auto-verification program and the key reasons why it is important to your laboratory and the organization. Your reason for implementing an auto-verification program should support and link to your organizations overall mission and key goals and objectives. A compelling statement of purpose should describe the auto-verification program and how it aligns with the organization’s value proposition.

• Goals and objectives

  Your business plan should state your goals and objectives for your auto-verification program with measurable outcomes that can be benchmarked against internal expectations or industry standards. These goals and objectives should be easy to measure metrics that focus on revenue and operational efficiency such as leaning out resources or taking on new volume using auto-verification rules. Well defined short-term and long-term goals will formulate a road map for success. With a clear idea of your success criteria, you will conserve precious resources and improve your chances of realizing your goals.  Listed below in Table 1 are examples of how to structure your auto-verification goals and objectives based on timelines expectations
  

  Table 1: Auto-verification Goals and Objective Template

• Scope of the auto-verification program

What are the short-term and long-term phases of your auto-verification program? This is a good place to identify how the phases of your auto-verification program will be approved and implemented. Define criteria for rule coverage and how it fits into your organization’s strategic operational and IT plan.

• Current Environment

  Where and what type of auto-verification and other rules are available across your LIS, EHR or middleware systems? How do they interact along the result workflow approval process? A simple diagram of your IT landscape including how data flows between systems regarding rules processing should be developed. This section is meant to inventory your current types of rules and where they are located and how they interact to qualify patient results.

• Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT Analysis)

  An auto-verification SWOT analysis will help you evaluate your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding your ability to plan, implement, deploy and maintain this type of program. This can help frame the internal and external concerns that will affect the auto-verification program.

  The internal factors are important for an auto-verification program. Identify your weaknesses such as clinical or technical expertise, lack of resources, time constraints, vendor support, etc.

  Inspire you.

  Download our auto-verification program SWOT analysis template. This document can help you identify how you are positioned to successfully implement a durable auto-verification program. A SWOT analysis will provide a clearer path forward so you can understand the obstacles that might be ahead.

• Options, Considerations and Recommendations for Path Forward

  There is rarely one answer to any problem. Here, you can lay out the different options to getting your project completed. Will you rely on internal resources, if so, how will that elongate your plan? What is the cost to get help from the outside and how much can it speed up your implementation?  What is out in the marketplace that can help you? There is no point in ‘going it alone’. Given the impact auto-verification can have on labs, it’s a good idea to lean on vendors and even solicit new ones that can help you achieve your goals quickly. In this section you can make your case for the recommended path forward that best fits your situation, given the availability of resources, time and cost.

• Risks of Not Moving Forward

  It’s important to share with leadership what the impact of doing nothing will have on the lab’s operation. Putting off and delaying the implementation of auto-verification rules is well documented. Continuing to procrastinate this important initiative has future impact on the laboratory and its mission to support the highest quality of testing turnaround time for the organization as a whole.

• Execution and Implementation

  Now that you have a defined path forward, this section maps out your planned activities, tasks, phases and timeline. It also lays out requirements for internal resources, equipment and materials, outside third-party services. Are you implementing more than one set of auto-verification rules at the same time? Are there phases to the implementation and go-live timeline or are you planning to deploy rules using a ‘Big-Bang’ approach? Each scenario has different pros and cons that should be considered based on your laboratory strategy. However, the best implementation strategy should be one that balances cost and resource allocation with the lowest risk.

• Mandatory and Desirable Requirements that Ensure Success

  What will you rely on to get your plan executed? What are your needs? Things to consider: internal staff, IT/IS staff, staff support like project manager? Can you justify new software or equipment? How about third-party resources?

• Roles and Responsibilities

  Buy-in is important. The more support you can get for your plan, the better. Ask for key leadership support both in IT and within the laboratory. In this section, the laboratory leadership, clinical and IT/LIS stakeholders should be listed by order of responsibility. The Medical Director is ultimately responsible for regulatory or statutory compliance for the auto-verification program implementation and on-going performance. It is a good idea to recruit a clinical consultant and operational manager to share responsibility for the auto-verification program. An organizational chart should be created and included in this section to visually show the levels of responsibility for the auto-verification program. A responsibility matrix should also be developed to supplement and support this section.

• Costs and Financial Analysis

Here is where you can identify the financial requirements to implement your best path forward. If you don’t plan on using outside resources, equipment or materials, state that here. You can also specify the costs required to implement your #2 option to give management a choice. And you don’t have to be an accountant or financial wizard to identify the costs saved with the start-up and deployment of an auto-verification program. A simple and conservative ROI (Return on Investment) can be created to identify the costs saved and the resources that can be transferred to other important activities.

What are you waiting for?

Your auto-verification success depends on your ability to chart a direction for your program. Think of your plan as a ‘living-breathing’ document. It should be re-visited at periodic intervals to update or change as the program progresses. An auto-verification program is an investment that deserves your attention and continued nurturing to ensure you get continual returns.

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