As the demand for testing grows, more companies are realising the need to operate across multiple laboratories. Whether it’s for business continuity, cost efficiency, or performance, using more than one lab can be critical to a robust testing program. But with these advantages come new challenges. Managing multiple labs is a complex and often costly endeavour, but a core part of Hurdle’s diagnostics infrastructure.

 

Why Operate More Than One Lab?

There are several compelling reasons why your testing program might require more than one laboratory:

• Business continuity: In case a lab is suddenly unavailable – due to anything from equipment failure to natural disasters like fires – having multiple labs ensures that your testing program can continue uninterrupted
• Cost efficiency: Pricing can vary across labs. By working with multiple labs, you can benefit from the best possible pricing
• Performance improvements: Not every lab performs to the same standard. If one lab’s turnaround time or accuracy isn’t meeting your requirements, having a backup lab can prevent disruptions in your workflow
• Scope & diversity of capabilities: Whether you have specific requirements for instrumentation or assay type, uncommon biomarkers or even geographical requirements for a lab, being able to find one lab to service all your current and future needs can often be challenging

However, while multi-lab operations offer clear benefits, managing them is no small feat.

 

The Complexities of Multi-Lab Management

Running multiple labs is more than just a simple addition to your testing program. Here are a few of the complexities you will likely face:

• Integration difficulties: Integrating your testing process with multiple labs typically requires manual effort, with each lab having its own system to integrate with. Labs may communicate data via different methods – such as APIs, SFTP or even email in some instances!
• Inconsistent data formats: Labs often use different data formats (e.g., varying versions of HL7 or JSON), and you’ll need to harmonise these before you can use the data effectively. They may also return results with varying units or reference ranges, adding another layer of complexity
• Routing and continuity planning: If you’re balancing tests across labs, you’ll need to develop complex routing logic. And in case of a lab failure, switching over to another requires a detailed business continuity plan
• Inconsistent notifications and tracking: Each lab will send notifications in its own way, making it challenging to track test status and results in a uniform manner
• Contracting and relationship management: With each additional lab comes a new contract, negotiations, and ongoing relationship management – all of which require significant resources
• Commercial constraints:  Splitting your volumes across multiple partners may result in losing any price-break incentives you may have once enjoyed from a single lab. Similarly, if there are particular test-types that require batching, spreading volumes across multiple labs may have a negative impact on turnaround times

Given these obstacles, handling multiple labs often turns into a logistical nightmare. That’s where Hurdle comes in.

 

How Hurdle Simplifies Multi-Lab Operations

Hurdle eliminates the complexities associated with managing multiple labs, allowing you to focus on what really matters – your testing program.

Here’s how we solve the problem:

• One partner, one contract: Instead of managing multiple contracts, negotiations, and pricing structures, you work with Hurdle as your sole partner. We handle the integration with labs and ensure pricing consistency across the board
• Automated routing and business continuity: With Hurdle, you don’t need to worry about routing or building complex switch-over plans. Our system automatically handles this for you, ensuring that your samples reach the right lab without any manual intervention
• Data standardisation and normalisation: Hurdle normalises and standardises all the data returned by different labs, ensuring that you always receive consistent, easy-to-interpret results – regardless of where the test was processed
• Uniform notifications and tracking: No more juggling different systems or spreadsheets just to find where a sample is. With Hurdle, all tracking and notifications are standardised across labs, providing you with seamless insight into the status of your samples
• Large-scale lab checks: Leverage Hurdle’s innovative 16-point lab checks across the lab network, to eliminate lab inconsistencies and reduce the risk of results inaccuracy and delays to your customers with onboarding a new lab

How It Works

Here’s a quick overview of how you can start using Hurdle to streamline your multi-lab operations:

1. Integrate with Hurdle: Use our off-the-shelf products or create your own custom testing panels
2. Collaborate on lab selection: Work with us to determine which labs best suit your testing needs
3. Set your routing preferences: Choose the percentage of tests to route to each lab or designate a primary lab with a quick switch-over plan if needed
4. Test as usual: Once your preferences are set, you can continue testing as normal without worrying about any of the complexities behind the scenes

 

In Summary

If you’re looking to provide business continuity or simply load-balance your testing program across multiple labs, the Hurdle platform offers a streamlined, low-effort solution. By partnering with us, you can ensure that your testing process runs smoothly, efficiently, and without the administrative burden of managing multiple lab relationships.