Why Solve for Lab Tests

Primary360 must solve for the ordering, interpreting, and follow-up of lab tests.

Lab tests are foundational for primary care due to their crucial role in building health profiles, acute and chronic disease detection, and chronic disease surveillance. An estimated 65% of medical decision-making is guided by laboratory test results.​

Traditional primary care is often in proximity to a lab facility where any lab test that is ordered during a visit can in theory be completed in the same outing. There is a perception that, in comparison to traditional primary care, obtaining lab tests in Primary360 is less convenient and may detract from the efficiency of the virtual encounter. ​

To combat this perception, it is important that the overall lab process within Primary360 delivers a positive member experience and introduces unique efficiencies or benefits when possible. 

Problems to Solve

Completions: Only about 35-40% lab completion rate for p360 (compared to 70-90% in B&M Primary Care)​

How might we increase lab order completions?​
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Geography: Rural areas are difficult to serve with patient service centers (Quest, Labcorp). ​
How might we support rural areas?​

Enrollment: Our primary competitor remains traditional B&M services – we need differentiators that elevates our product and drive enrollment.​

How might we compete with B&M which often bundles labs with their offering?

The Goal

While we understand we must improve upon our current lab process, we needed to uncover people’s perceptions of lab tests and barriers that may prevent them from completing their labs.​

Research Methods

Lab Tests: Sentiments & Emotions

Q: When I say “lab tests” what thoughts/emotions first come to mind?

Lab tests invoke needle anxiety in some people

Some worry about wait times and waiting rooms

Some worry about receiving negative results

A few worry about insurance coverage and the cost

Clinical Inputs On Lab Incompletions

The care team has been tasked with closing out lab orders. Typical reasons for our GM members missing orders, by frequency:

1. Patient awareness they needed the lab​

2. No easy access to the appointment (transportation, finding the time off, etc.)​

3. Inability to pay​

4. Patient fear/discomfort​

5. Lab was no longer needed for some reason and not canceled in the system. (This could be due to another laboratory doing it for the patient or due to a change in the diagnosis or health status of the patient.)

Lab Delivery Model

The Results

Participants in both studies gave similar reasons for not completing recent labs:

1. Dislike of needles/blood/doctors​

2. Too busy to find time to do it​

3. It was inconvenient​

4. Expense​

5. Didn’t agree with the necessity of the lab​

6. Feel healthy so don’t feel the need to do routine bloodwork

“Convenience is huge, I’m a very busy person. It would have been too difficult to figure out. If the [telehealth] doctor had sent me a link to click on, then maybe I would have done it. The second thing is the criticality of the test. If its something I don’t feel is important, I won’t do it.” F, 38​

Recommendations Addressing Lab Completions

1. Patient awareness of lab order is the most obvious thing that we can address in our product via:​

• Notifications (email, text, app)​

• Promotion in the care plan​

• Clear communication & follow up from our care team​

2. Barriers due to transportation, convenience, and busy schedules can be addressed by our expanded lab options and at-home lab solutions​

3. Routine lab tests in healthy individuals may require a “higher touch” experience which highlights the value of these tests. ​

4. Our digital surfaces may encourage routine test completion via​

• Nudges and reminders​

• Tailored content regarding the value of routine tests 

Design Phase