LabCorp 2011 Annual Report Download - page 5

3
Pillar Two Pillar Three
Our automation initiatives, improvements to our logistics network, and enhancements to our
supply chain operations have increased our per-employee throughput in our core laboratories
by 40 percent since 2007.
Enhance฀our฀IT฀capabilities฀to฀improve฀
the physician and patient experience
In฀2011,฀we฀expanded฀the฀capabilities฀of฀LabCorp฀Beacon®,
a comprehensive solution that delivers great value to physicians
and฀patients.฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀helps฀to฀manage฀the฀test฀ordering฀
and result delivery processes efficiently, intuitively and in a variety
of฀easy-to-use฀formats.฀Last฀year,฀we฀deployed฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀
to more than 8,500 sites and 41,000 customers, and we have
received accolades from users for its flexibility and broad feature set.
For฀physicians,฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀centralizes฀lab฀connectivity฀and฀
provides clear, concise reports and message alerts delivered in
a฀variety฀of฀formats,฀including฀mobile฀platforms฀like฀the฀iPhone®,
Android™฀and฀iPad®. With streamlined order entry, intuitive visual
cues to support timely physician decision making, and a host of
time฀saving฀features,฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀is฀a฀signicant฀asset฀that฀
fortifies our relationships with thousands of physicians.
For฀patients,฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀makes฀it฀easier฀to฀interact฀with฀
medical฀professionals.฀In฀2011,฀we฀completed฀development฀of฀
the฀LabCorp฀Beacon฀patient฀portal฀—฀a฀secure฀and฀easy-to-use฀
online solution that enables patients to receive and share lab results,
make appointments, pay bills, set up alerts and notifications,
and manage health information for the entire family.
Continue to improve efficiency to
remain the most efficient and highest-
value provider of laboratory services
Our emphasis on continually improving productivity extends
throughout all phases of our operations — from specimen
collection, to processing and testing, to result reporting and to
billing. LabCorp TOUCHSM accessioning provides leading-edge
automation฀at฀our฀patient฀service฀center฀(PSC)฀locations.฀LabCorp฀
TOUCH, including AccuDrawSM, automates key aspects of specimen
collection,฀improving฀accuracy฀and฀precision.฀It฀allows฀us฀to฀
deploy our personnel more productively, and it is now installed
in฀more฀than฀1,100฀sites,฀representing฀approximately฀75฀percent฀
of฀our฀PSC฀volume.฀
Last฀year,฀we฀continued฀to฀reap฀the฀benets฀of฀our฀Sysmex฀
hematology automation. Our automation initiatives, improvements
to our logistics network, and enhancements to our supply chain
operations have increased our per-employee throughput in our
core฀laboratories฀by฀40฀percent฀since฀2007.฀We฀also฀upgraded฀
our call center operations, improving call response time while
reducing the number of facilities by approximately two-thirds.
Even฀as฀we฀achieve฀new฀efciencies,฀LabCorp’s฀service฀metrics,฀
customer satisfaction ratings, and turnaround times are at
historically high levels.
The฀expansion฀of฀the฀Powell฀Center฀for฀Esoteric฀Testing฀in฀
Burlington,฀North฀Carolina฀leverages฀LEAN฀principles฀to฀conduct฀
testing more efficiently and consolidate satellite locations.
LEAN฀strategies฀have฀also฀proven฀effective฀in฀creating฀process฀
improvements฀in฀our฀billing฀and฀collection฀operations.฀DSO฀at฀
year-end฀stood฀at฀46฀days,฀unchanged฀year฀over฀year฀and฀
sequentially,฀while฀bad฀debt฀continued฀its฀downward฀trajectory฀
to฀4.6฀percent,฀an฀improvement฀of฀20฀basis฀points฀over฀last฀year.