Uber-like Lab Test Ordering System

Challenge

Requesting tests from different laboratories is a notoriously daunting and cumbersome task that takes up a substantial amount of clinicians’ time. Smaller niche labs, especially those whose information systems are not interfacing with hospitals’ EHR systems, have much less market exposure than bigger laboratories.

To solve these two challenges, our customer, a US-based startup, wanted to develop a one-stop solution for healthcare practitioners to streamline lab test ordering. Given that lab tests contain highly-sensitive patient data, such a solution requires compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and HL7 standards. To bring the idea to life, the customer turned to Virtual Nomad for platform development.

Solution

Virtual Nomad developed a lab test ordering system that allows clinicians to request specific tests from hundreds of different labs using one platform. Here is how a system works from a clinician’s perspective:

– After login, a clinician can see critical patient data including medical history and what medications a patient takes
– A clinician logins into the portal and sees tests available for order from multiple providers
– After ordering a test or a set of tests, the request is confirmed by both patient and doctor using e-signatures
– The system automatically confirms if a patient is eligible for requested services with an insurance company
– Respective laboratories receive test requests following HL7’s standards around data exchange

Result

In 6 months, we delivered a comprehensive regulatory-compliant system that streamlines lab test ordering for clinicians and optimizes request processing for laboratories. Clinicians no longer need to fill a different test request for each laboratory and have access to a broader range of lab testing services. What’s more, the service enables smaller labs to become more competitive as they get significantly more exposure.