From missed tests to managed health: How closing open orders improves patient compliance and outcomes

For healthcare organizations, closing gaps in care is an ongoing challenge with significant implications for patient outcomes and costs. Incomplete lab testing in particular can lead to delayed diagnoses, chronic disease progression and avoidable downstream costs like hospital admissions and specialist visits.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 90% of the nation's $4.9 trillion in annual healthcare spending is for people with chronic and mental health conditions. Many of these conditions are manageable through early detection and consistent monitoring enabled by routine lab testing.

However, millions of lab orders go unfulfilled every month, with a significant number of those missed tests related to quality measures. This represents missed opportunities for preventive care, early intervention, and effective chronic disease management.

Additionally, keeping track of which patients have outstanding lab orders can be a challenge, especially with high patient volumes.

The gaps in care communication conundrum

Gaps in care often start as gaps in communication. If patients don't understand the importance of completing recommended testing or face barriers to accessing care and aren’t aware of available solutions, they’re less likely to follow through on lab orders from their providers.

One of the primary causes of gaps in care is a lack of effective, coordinated communication among patients, providers and payers. Open Orders programs address this root cause with data-driven patient outreach and strategic communication to improve engagement and close gaps in care.

By combining targeted, automated reminders, patient-centered messaging and actionable insights, the Labcorp Open Orders programs help patient understand the need to complete essential lab work and how it can help them identify, monitor and get treatment for health issues earlier to prevent or minimize potentially serious complications, while simultaneously reducing administrative burdens for providers.

How proactive patient communication bridges gaps in care

An estimated 93% of lab orders are submitted electronically, making Open Orders programs a highly scalable and impactful solution. Here are three ways they help bridge gaps in care:

1. Timely reminders drive higher patient compliance

Timely reminders have been shown to significantly improve patient compliance with testing and treatment plans. A review of 51 studies found that automated reminders reliably increase attendance rates and medication adherence across diverse populations. Personalized and automated follow-up can also significantly improve test completion rates.

The Open Orders program at Labcorp aligns communication timing with patient behavior. We automatically send patients a reminder email and text message (if opted-in) seven days after a lab order is created and a second reminder 48 hours after the first reminder if no action is taken.

This measured communication cadence respects patients by recognizing their busy schedules while educating and reinforcing the importance and urgency of timely labs.

2. Patient-centered communication improves access and health equity

Beyond improving adherence, strategic patient communication can also help address disparities in access to care. Populations with limited access to care often experience lower screening rates and more advanced disease progression.

Human-centered communication strategies bridge access gaps and advance health equity. They also help reduce the communication gap that disproportionately affects underserved communities.

This direct outreach is especially impactful for patients in rural and urban areas, those with unstable housing, and individuals who may face limited access to primary care, transportation issues, or socioeconomic and health literacy challenges in proactively following up on lab orders. Meeting patients where they are, by phone or inbox, helps provide everyone with an equal opportunity to complete recommended testing regardless of their circumstances.

Ultimately, the Open Orders program is designed to advance health equity by making it easier for all patients to access preventive services and stay engaged in their care, regardless of location, resources or background.

3. Targeted messaging increases responses

A principle of “nudge” psychology includes “implementation intentions,” which shows that people are significantly more likely to follow through when given a concrete, immediate action to take. Rather than sending generic reminders, a good Open Orders program delivers personalized, purpose-driven messages designed to prompt immediate patient action.

At Labcorp, each reminder includes the ordering provider’s name and a brief explanation of why the test matters, whether it’s for diabetes monitoring, cardiovascular risk assessment, or a preventive screening. A "Schedule now" button simplifies the message with a clear call-to-action, making it easy for patients to act immediately to schedule the appointment.

These personalized, purpose-driven messages help prompt immediate patient action for improved adherence and greater operational efficiency.

Benefits of using Labcorp's Open Orders program for payors, providers and health plans

In addition to improving patient engagement, access and outcomes, Open Orders programs offer significant benefits for healthcare organizations and providers. The Labcorp Open Orders program in particular offers several key, distinctive benefits for payors and health plans, including:

• Actionable insights: Our data-driven insights powered by 45 billion lab results from more than 150 million patients—over 50% of the U.S. population—help payers and providers identify and address gaps in care. These insights also grant health plans and providers real-time visibility into outstanding orders and reminder effectiveness to track which patients aren’t completing tests, as well as identify patterns by geography, provider, or population. This transparency allows for additional, targeted interventions to improve compliance and close persistent care gaps.
• Automated, patient-centered outreach: Our advanced analytics identify your patients who require guidance and support and engages them through targeted communications. Reminders aren’t sent for duplicate testing or standing orders. Preferences for collection locations are respected, which reduces confusion and aligns communications with the provider's care plan.
• Provider workflow and staff support: The program integrates seamlessly with provider workflows, making it easier to manage patient care and make informed decisions. By automating communication and appointment scheduling to identify open orders that remain incomplete and deploy a campaign to get them completed, it reduces administrative burden on staff—a leading contributor to clinician burnout. Reaching patients directly, without requiring providers or their staff to manually follow up, streamlines practice operations and allows healthcare personnel to focus on providing direct patient care.
• Value-based care initiative support: By providing actionable insights and supporting provider workflows, the program helps payers and providers work together more effectively. A view of completed orders also supplies providers with up-to-date patient data to inform clinical decisions, along with documentation for accurate risk adjustment and quality reporting.
• Improved patient satisfaction: Proactive communication, easy scheduling and convenient testing at one of our over 2,200 patient service centers located within miles of 95% of the U.S. population improve patient satisfaction and engagement.
• Quality metrics confirmation: Timely lab testing for patients who need it most helps providers meet HEDIS, Star and other performance benchmarks related to chronic disease management, preventive care and coding accuracy. Interventions that address access and logistics challenges can also help improve HEDIS and Stars performance without requiring additional documentation or outreach from the provider’s office. 

What tests Labcorp's Open Orders programs support