One of the largest reference laboratories in North America leveraged Workpath to implement a new mobile phlebotomy program to improve the patient experience while increasing compliance with physician orders.

Challenge

Before Workpath, one major reference laboratory performed phlebotomy (blood draws) in service centers where patients would arrive, wait in a queue, sometimes for hours, to eventually meet with a phlebotomist and get blood drawn. This inconvenient experience caused high levels of patient dissatisfaction and, in some cases, led to patients not following through with physician-ordered blood work; resulting in lost revenue.

To provide the patients with an alternative experience to getting drawn in a service center, the reference laboratory decided to implement a mobile phlebotomy program for their patients. This enabled patients to receive blood work in the location of their choice, like their home or workplace, with the goal of providing a more convenient experience.

Workpath's solution

With Workpath, the reference laboratory, within a matter of weeks, implemented a mobile phlebotomy program with automated physician order intake from EHRs to reduce duplication of orders by a physician; patient self-scheduling to give patients flexibility, phlebotomist dispatching to remove out-dated workflows, and optimized phlebotomist routing and tracking throughout the job to remove manual communication.

Patients easily enter their address and pick the date and time for their appointment via a link sent via SMS or email. They then receive automated communication throughout the appointment lifecycle, including a link to track the phlebotomist’s location en route and expected arrival time.