Initiating a regional laboratory network

Wherever we look--on television, in national and local newspapers, or within our own institutions and communities--the biggest issue facing health-care providers is integration. The Clinton plan virtually mandates integrated services, and many individual states are moving ahead rapidly with their own programs. Mandated purchasing alliances will require network services that are focused on cost savings and broad access to the medical system. The incentive to form collaborative medical networks defies our tradition of actively competing for patients and reimbursement dollars. Hospital and physician office laboratories, along with small independent laboratories, face both their greatest challenge and their best opportunity in the changing health-care environment. Those choosing to take up the gauntlet thrown down in the Clinton Administration's commitment to reform will be uniquely positioned to survive and thrive; those who dig their heels firmly into past paradigms will be swept away by the tide of economic change. Whether mandated by law or forged into being by the heat of economic pressure, the formation of integrated care networks positioned to vie for health-care dollars seems inevitable. Some states, including Florida, Washington, and Minnesota, have already passed legislation that anticipates national reform by virtually mandating integrated health-care services. Others are contemplating similar action, and the economic impact is already apparent in a lower-than-projected increase in health-care costs. How can community laboratories position themselves to participate in this rapidly changing environment? Most experts agree that laboratory services must roll themselves into total health-care programs and operate regionally to compete with the national, for-profit conglomerates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)