How Your LIMS Can Help You Deliver Top Notch Customer Service: Part 1
Customer service is a critical piece of the diagnostic testing process. In a complex industry where timely analysis and results are paramount, excellent customer service and effective communication can be competitive differentiators for your lab.
This matters most with ordering and result report delivery, the two primary points of interaction your laboratory has with customers. You want healthcare providers to be able to order tests and view results easily and quickly – period. That’s why it’s important to ensure your LIMS partner is equally focused on these objectives.
There are a couple ways your LIMS partner can support ease of test ordering and timely result delivery to assist in your customer service efforts:
- by integrating orders and results delivery into a provider’s electronic medical record (EMR), or
- by providing a secure and HIPAA-compliant web-based portal for use by the provider.
Let’s explore how each of these solutions can help you achieve excellence in customer service and which portal features are must-haves for your business.
Option 1: EMR Integration
Integration with a provider’s EMR allows the provider to order tests for patients with a few clicks of a button and provides the ability to view test results in the patient’s health record directly.
Although a direct interface with the provider’s EMR is a streamlined and convenient solution, in reality, achieving integration with multiple EMRs is a costly and time-consuming process. Often, EMR integration requires additional development for both the EMR and your LIMS partner, and considerable collaboration across multiple parties that can drive long project timelines.
If your laboratory finds the requirements and resources of EMR integration daunting, then a web-based provider portal may be the customer service solution for you.
Option 2: A Provider Portal
A provider portal can be an excellent asset for your diagnostic laboratory, especially if it includes the features described below:
1. Security & Compliance
First, your healthcare provider portal must meet the appropriate security and HIPAA compliance requirements to protect patients and providers and ensure good security practices for your laboratory.
2. Branding
An effective portal built to communicate with your customers must reflect your brand. Not only should it include your company’s logo, colors, and other elements that make up your branding, but it also needs to align with your commitment to customer service. A reputable LIMS partner will work with you to build that aspect of your brand.
3. Ease of Use
When providers log in to your lab’s portal, they will expect a positive user experience. The best portals for ordering reports will have clean, intuitive interfaces and will be easy to use.
More Customer Service Considerations
In Part 2 of this blog post, we’ll share additional functionalities to look for in your provider portal that can support your customer service efforts. Check back to learn more about this valuable tool for your lab.
In the meantime, if you want to find out how ApolloLIMS helps labs like yours deliver top notch customer service, please contact our team.
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