Summary
Laboratory leaders from various health systems discussed strategies to navigate competition and ensure growth. Key themes included the importance of strategic planning, partnerships, and leveraging technology like AI. While some systems are expanding their outreach programs, others are focusing on internal growth and improving clinical quality.
March 2026—How to stave off the competition for laboratory services—that’s what Compass Group members talked about when they met online on Feb. 2 with CAP TODAY publisher Bob McGonnagle. For what they’re doing, thinking, and advising, read on. The Compass Group is an organization of not-for-profit IDN system laboratory leaders who collaborate to identify and share best practices and strategies.
Clark Day, tell us what’s happening at IU Health.
Clark Day, VP of system laboratory services, Indiana University Health: We have a conversion underway from Cerner to Epic; it will be done by mid-2027. I have a systemwide, 16-hospital conversion of the core laboratory platform to Roche for clinical chemistry and to Sysmex for hematology. We’re opening a hospital in Fort Wayne in spring 2027 and a consolidated downtown Indianapolis hospital in December 2027.
The health system is doing well. Our CEO describes it as facing headwinds but also making progress. Nursing recruiting is going well and our clinical quality remains strong in spite of the headwinds. ED patient satisfaction, which is a focus, is improving.
We’re also focused on longer-term strategic planning, which I’m taking to our laboratory as well. We’re making a concerted effort to put a five-year plan in place. We’re calling it Lab 2030—what our lab needs to do to set our operation up for success over the next 10-, 15-, 20-year run. We’re trying to think bigger picture and section by section. We have what I call big rocks in the river that can’t move—the Epic and Roche conversions—and all things have to flow in and around that. How do we piece in our path toward digital pathology or staging for next-generation sequencing testing? We need to map that over the next one, three, and five years.
Mike Eller, do you have a comment on what Clark said and what is happening at Northwell?
Mike Eller, assistant vice president of business development, Northwell Health Laboratories, New York: We’re going live with Epic systemwide. The laboratory is staying on Cerner, so we’re integrating with Epic. Our first wave went live in November and was pretty successful, and now we’re looking at lessons learned and trying not to make the same mistakes for our next wave in April. When we’ve completed all four waves we’ll work on integration with our new partners, Nuvance Health.
We’ve been taking on strategic planning exercises ourselves because everything is moving so quickly and we’re experiencing the same headwinds Clark described. We have to take a look at what we want to be when we grow up. Ten years ago the answer was different—sell the outreach, bring money into the health system, help it expand, and be a financial contributor. Though those pressures will always be there, we’re more focused on supporting our clinical programs, growing our cancer programs.
If we look five, 10 years down the road, we have to explore opportunities for partnerships because I don’t think we can build it alone. It’s too big, and our competition in the outreach world is too big. If we’re going to compete, we will have to partner and become innovative and creative on different models so we can keep supporting our clinical programs and driving revenue into the health system.
You’re talking more partnerships with other systems, part of consolidation, and your outreach will become increasingly in-reach if you’re focused on pathology and laboratory medicine. Is that a fair characterization?