Improve EMR connectivity and realize cost savings

The company

Advanced Medical Analysis, LLC provides comprehensive laboratory services in anatomic and clinical pathology. Its high standards have made AMA Laboratory the laboratory of choice for an array of physicians, clinics, hospitals, and healthcare providers in Southern California. Its staff consists of licensed and board certified pathologists, cytotechnologists, and medical technologists with broad background and comprehensive experience in pathology and laboratory medicine. AMA Laboratory is CLIA certified and licensed by the State of California.

The challenge

In recent years AMA Laboratory experienced increased demand for functional LIS to EMR interfaces that let referring physicians order laboratory tests and have results automatically populate patient records within the physician's EMR. Like many laboratories, AMA was relying on its LIS vendor to address the EMR connectivity requirements of referring physicians.

The effectiveness of AMA's interfacing capabilities was constrained by the limitations and high development costs of relying on that vendor. LIS to EMR interfaces often took months to complete and came at an exorbitant cost of $5,000 per interface. Initially the LIS vendor was also charging AMA an additional $5,000 to duplicate previously developed interfaces. The long development cycles were putting unnecessary and potentially costly strain on AMA Laboratory's relationships with its physicians and clients.

The laboratory needed an efficient, cost effective partner for its integration needs in order to maintain access to physician referrals and the revenue that accompanies those laboratory test specimens.

"We had some bad experiences where we almost lost a few clients to the national laboratories because we were relying on our LIS vendor, who was not doing what they needed to do. We knew there had to be a better way," says Garabed Yegavian, Laboratory Information Systems, Advanced Medical Analysis.

The solution

After evaluating several of the interface engines on the market, AMA Laboratory selected eTransX as its HL7 integration partner. "We knew this was the right solution as soon as we saw it in the demo," says Yegavian. Through the Healthcare Enterprise Messaging and Integration (HEMI) engine, eTransX helped AMA Laboratory overcome its connectivity challenges with integration tools that enable internal IT staff to take control of EMR interfaces. "Nobody can believe the simplicity and ease of the interface," says Yegavian.

The results

eTX HEMI has given AMA Laboratory the ability to stay on top of rapidly growing demand for LIS to EMR interfaces by reducing development time from weeks or months to as little as a few hours. The laboratory's interfacing capabilities are no longer hindering physician relationships.

AMA Laboratory realized a significant return on its investment in eTransX. The savings from eliminating the LIS vendor's interface fees allowed the laboratory to completely recover the cost of the eTX HEMI license within five months of implementation.