Labcorp is a leading global life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers and patients make clear and confident decisions. We created a streamlined patient experience that reduced friction, increased satisfaction and set the groundwork for innovative adaptation in the face of the Pandemic.

The Challenge

LabCorp’s charge was to double-down on their excellent customer service, but to ensure it was delivered well throughout the entire customer journey. Each stage and touchpoint—from scheduling and arrival, to testing, results, and billing—needed to be considered not as discrete activities but as part of a larger patient experience. LabCorp also wanted to explore, prototype, and test innovative ways to expand the value that LabCorp provides patients before, during, and after their diagnostic experience.

Our Approach

We started with LabCorp stakeholder interviews, and then undertook field research—observations and a series of one-on-one patient interviews. We documented 13 stages of the patient journey, with 56 significant pain points, and 20 unmet patient needs.

In a collaborative workshop, we reviewed our findings and translated them into a prioritized backlog, combining LabCorp’s known backlog with opportunities from our research.

This formed the foundation for targeted design. Our Sprint Plan included four cycles focused on Appointments, Billing & Insurance, New Account Creation, & Test Results (later expanded to include the Homepage, Dashboard, & Help Center). Each cycle included user testing and feedback, with iterative improvements to meet key experience metrics. From both a usability and desirability standpoint, the new designs were preferred over the existing and competitor experience by almost 90% of testers.

Outcomes

The project concluded just prior to the Pandemic.

Our key business metrics included increasing the number of appointments booked online to reduce walk-ins, reducing contact center calls due to patient confusion, and growing the number of digital accounts. The new design met all these key metrics. More importantly, its timing allowed LabCorp to rapidly meet the needs of patients and providers during the disruption from the Pandemic. Had they not doubled-down on patient experience, they would not have been in a position to adapt so quickly to the unexpected.