Overview
Tomorrow’s Health is a new lab located in Richland/Kennewick, Washington. Brent House started the lab with the goal of advancing personalized medicine through the use of next generation sequencing. However, those plans had to be delayed as the COVID pandemic created the immediate need for testing facilities.
Speed is Critical
Early in the pandemic the need for testing was quickly outstripping the capacity. Even with a background in vaccine development from his time in the U.S. Navy working at the Naval Medical Research Center, Brent knew that getting his lab up and running quickly would provide vital testing capacity to the Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick and Pasco) area.
“When we starting looking for an LIS for the lab one of the main things we were looking for was a company that could meet our shorter timelines,” Brent said. “Comp Pro Med did exactly that where I think some of the other companies that we talked to quoted 6 to 10 weeks, but Comp Pro Med got us up and running far quicker than that, which is really what we needed.”
LIS Functionality and Performance are a High Priority
In addition to speedy installation, Brent’s search for the right LIS prioritized functionality and performance. “The Comp Pro Med product is not fancy. It is pretty straight forward, and honestly, for an LIS, I don’t care if its fancy looking,” says Brent. “To me it’s more about its functionality and for our purposes it has performed well. It’s straight-forward, quick, simple and easy to use. Plus, we have no downtime which is huge.”
Short Term Profits Position Long Term Success
The future vision for Tomorrow’s Health is to focus on personalized medicine through genomic sequencing, but the COVID pandemic provided an opportunity to turn short term gains into long-term success. Brent explains, “Sequencing and many other esoteric testing was something I wanted to do for many years. I wanted to start my own lab to actualize the benefits of using a patient’s genome sequence to personalize their medical care.”
The Polytech LIS has the flexibility to work for Tomorrow’s Health now and can expand as Brent’s lab expands its capabilities. “COVID testing has provided a unique opportunity where we can utilize the profits to develop the next generation sequencing (NGS) side of the business,” Brent says. “Most lab businesses (and any type of businesses) may not realize a profit for 2 to 3 years. However, because of the high demand (and need) for COVID testing, we’ve been able to make critical profits within the first 4-6 months that will help us develop the long-term part of the business.”
About Tomorrow’s Health
Located in Richland/Kennewick, WA, Tomorrow’s Health laboratory provides cutting edge testing capabilities for the local Tri-Cities community and beyond. Tomorrow’s Health wants to help catalyze a healthcare revolution, in which healthcare becomes personalized and preventative, a revolution where we unlock the exponentially growing potential of understanding the human genome, a revolution where knowing the entire genome sequence of each individual will significantly improve his or her health and well-being.
About Comp Pro Med
Comp Pro Med, Inc. has been providing clinical laboratory information solutions since 1983 and delivers the most comprehensive LIS on the market today, the Polytech LIS. Comp Pro Med’s robust yet easy to use solutions allow clinical and hospital laboratories to expedite patient record management processes, interface seamlessly with any application or instrument, automate data collection and reporting – all with zero downtime, and in compliance with state and federal regulations.
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