Feeling the lab: Client Relationship Management (CRM) gets under the microscope

Client Relationship Management (CRM) reminds clinical laboratories that healthcare and medical services constitute a business, and that no business model would be so cavalier about customer service, no matter how “clinical” the transaction can get.

Medical laboratories perform hundreds upon hundreds of tests every day to assist the services of physicians and other medical specialists. Their client relationships, however, are sometimes overlooked as physicians take over the client-facing work. Nevertheless, this “middleman” system should not distract from their real objective of improving patient outcomes.

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There are key changes in the operations of clinical laboratories that signal evolving expectations on the output and system of laboratory management. Wholesale digitalization, for one, no longer excuses lost data. Transparency and speed of access, in favor of both physicians and patients, are the new endgame, and not, as many industry specialists envision it, the acquisition of IT and medical processing technologies. In the end, highly modernized labs are held up to standards of data precision and not technological costs.

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Therefore, CRM compels medical professionals to rethink hard-won laboratory cultures. To date, many hospitals are still working on their online databases, and this translates to an informational delay for hospital patients, for whom being in the know about health conditions reduces stress and other healthcare costs.

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CRM platforms are now necessarily direct hotlines. Patients can place cloud queries and get responses in no time or follow up the status of their lab tests. Physicians are also alerted about important patient visits, which reduce the lag in administering crucial medical attention or in recommending further tests for diagnosis.

Laboratory management is a growing concern in clinical operations, especially with the advent of medical information technology. Visit this Candis Kinkus blog to be acquainted with the latest issues confronting commercial laboratory services.