Patient-Centered Testing: When Waiting is the Hardest Part

Nearly everyone has had this experience: Your physician spots something suspicious in your blood work and orders additional tests. Now comes the hard part: waiting days or sometimes even weeks for results that can bring a sigh of relief or massive life upheavals. Apart from the stress of living with uncertainty, each day lost can make a difference in treatment effectiveness and outcome.

In an effort to reduce the time and anxiety patients experience waiting for test results, Fort Myers, Fla.-based NeoGenomics Laboratories has initiated patient-focused advanced diagnostics services with turnaround times that are typically half of the industry average. The company achieves speed by utilizing the most advanced analytic equipment and methods for achieving results rapidly and reliably.

NeoGenomics specializes in genetic/molecular testing, the fastest-growing medical testing market, but with a twist. By employing advanced analytic algorithms, the company expedites accurate diagnostic and prognostic genetic test results, thus automating critical testing lab operations. Depending on the test, NeoGenomics usually cuts test result turnaround time in half.

NeoGenomics provides oncologists, pathologists, and hospitals throughout the United States with three principal test platforms:

• Cytogenetics – a top-level technique for gene analysis, useful in diagnosing acute and chronic myeloid leukemias, lymphomas, Typical turnaround time is 3-5 days vs. the industry average of 7-10 days
• Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH), which examines genetic abnormalities more closely than cytogenetics. FISH excels in testing for hematological cancers, solid tumor testing for gene over-expressions (e.g. HER2/neu for breast cancer), and analysis of lymph nodes and peripheral blood. FISH turnaround at NeoGenomics is typically less than 72 hours, with the industry standard as long as five days.
• Flow Cytometry, for analyzing cells by differences in surface markers. Cytometry is typically used to identify cells from blood, bone marrow, or biopsies. Turnaround time is 12-24 hours vs. the industry average of 24-72 hours

NeoGenomics offers genetic testing at three facilities in Ft. Myers, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Irvine, California. The company laboratories are fully certified and meet or exceed industry and government standards for genetics specimen testing. (It is worth noting that while patients do not themselves order tests, they can insist their doctors send specimens to specific labs.)

NeoGenomics’ goal is to develop a network of integrated, strategically located regional cancer genetic testing labs that provide full service testing with state-of the art instrumentation. NeoGenomics envisions that these “regional labs” would be serviced by local courier networks, connected via the Neo “backbone” and serving the needs of customers nationwide.

We would be delighted to set up an interview for you to speak with NeoGenomics President and Chief Scientific Officer Robert Gasparini about this unique testing services model.