In the Diagnostics and Pathology industry, the name Genomics Laboratory is synonymous to quality and reliable diagnostic services. It is a well-recognized brand committed to helping improve the quality of patient care by providing reports that support clinical decision-making for doctors.
The Harbingers of Evolved Testing
The odyssey of Genomics started when the Diagnostics and Pathology industry were on a lookout for newly evolving testing methods like Molecular Diagnostics and Sequencing. The team of Mr. Pritpal Singh, Dr. Jasneet Kaur and Dr. Upinder Singh translated their zeal to make esoteric testing affordable and accessible across the country into Genomics Laboratory. The idea stemmed from Dr Jasneet’s vision to offer investigations that deal with Syndromic or symptoms testing and help the treating clinicians arrive at the final diagnosis more quickly and affordably.
Genomics started with a small setup in the buzzing hub of Labs and Diagnostics Centers in West Delhi.
The acumen of Dr. Upinder Singh and team led to astounding growth in terms of territorial coverage across India, wider test menu catering to all Specialties and financial stability. The initial days were tough as it had to implement new custom made LIS and scout for the new location due to increased volumes of Samples day by day. But nothing proved deterrent to its endeavour to promote Molecular Test Menu to Specialized Medical Fraternity. It was soon treading towards a well organized and planned mission to be India’s Fastest growing Molecular Testing Laboratory.
Key Services
Genomics offers a broad range of clinical tests and profiles. The profile comprises of a variety of test combinations which are specific to a disease or disorder as well as wellness profiles that are used for health and fitness screening. It has developed several tests in-house and also filed patents for a few. Other work includes next-generation sequencing to help doctors personalise medicine for cancer patients and genetic diagnosis and screening to assess if an expecting mother’s child is at the risk of any serious genetic disease.
Genomics is one of the very few diagnostic providers in the country who offer end to end solutions. Of special note is its End to End Logistics solutions of samples pickup PAN India that helps it maintain and monitor the integrity of the samples through cold chain logistics. It has painstakingly developed the system leveraging the more than 20 years of experience in the diagnostics industry, of its co-founder Pritpal Singh.
Key Service Areas
- Specialized Diagnostics: Molecular Biology, Flow Cytometry, Gene Sequencing, Surgical Pathology and Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Cytogenetics, NGS, Multiplex PCRs etc.
- Routine Diagnostics: Hematology, Biochemistry, Clinical Pathology, Microbiology, Immunoassays, ELISA, CLIA, HISTOPATHOLOGY etc.
- Hospital Lab Management: Partners with Hospitals to optimize Lab Operations
- Clinical Trials: Partners Pharma Cos, CROs for trials & Patient Support Programs
Striving for Better – Always
The pathology industry works on four basic principles:
- Formidable TAT (Turn Around Time) for the Reports.
- Reliability/Quality of the Test Results.
- Sound Logistics so that the samples reach processing Lab/centre on time thus enabling faster Delivery of Test results.
- A customer Care which is consistently good in quality.
GENOMICS consistently endeavours to adhere to these 4 basic principles and thus has an edge over the competitors. Apart from these, it also relies on its information technology systems to ensure efficiency and improved the productivity of its operations. It also helps in monitoring its network’s performance, refining resource allocation, tracking consumption patterns. The main components of its technology architecture include the following:
Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) – It manages the core workflow from patient enquiry to specimen collection process and from testing to reporting. It stores and manages all clinical laboratory data, including patient demographics, reference details and medical information and more.
Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing(SAP) – SAP maintains records for accounts payable, accounts receivables and inventory, as well as banking and general ledgers. It also allows us to better manage its finances, inventory and purchasing through the provision of real-time data from several locations.
Privacy and Security of User Data – Genomics stores patient data on its data servers, with strong authentication mechanisms, maintained by its information technology staff.
Data Collection and Analytics – Data collected through the systems and operations are analyzed time and again to determine, for example, seasonal trends of diseases, ways to improvise diagnostic services, preventive and related healthcare services best suited to the community, or information related to tests that are commonly bundled by our patients.
Challenges in the Industry
Team Genomics feels that the diagnostic laboratories industry in India is poised for strong growth because of rising demand for healthcare but lack of regulation remains a major concern, considering the risks it poses to patients. Dr Upinder explains, “There is no stratification of labs and there is lack of awareness. People don’t know the difference between an accredited lab and any other lab. That is because there is no legislation around it.” He further adds, “Accreditation is a voluntary process which should be made mandatory. Though it is not proposed to be enforced on clinical establishments including laboratories but Under the Clinical Establishments Act, the effort of the government is to enforce standard treatment protocols, ensure adherence to minimum standards and range of rates of medical/diagnostic procedures, which is essential to make proper healthcare available by ensuring affordability and accessibility to the citizens of the country.”
The company feels that the real menace are the labs which have a poor quality control system and are in no position to give assurance on the reliability of test to their customers. The government should formulate a ‘robust policy’ in the interest of patients for regulating the functioning and opening of pathological laboratories and to constitute appropriate authority for regular checking of such laboratories. One cannot and should not allow mushrooming of path labs managed by unqualified professionals and non-calibrated testing equipment.
Spreading Out
Genomics has a PAN India presence and while starting a new center it draws a detailed business plan which includes:
- Market Analysis in terms of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and viability of the Center
- Location of the centre which should be visible and accessible to patients or clients.
- Logistics need to be defined so that samples reach on time and reports served with minimum TAT.
- Sales Staff to be sorted out to help grow the business organically.
- The business model should be scalable.
Future Prospectives
Genomics envisions becoming the country’s first choice for molecular healthcare services at affordable prices. It aims to become a network of highly automated and sophisticated Molecular diagnostic laboratories without any compromise on accuracy, quality, technology, standards, customer contentment and morals. Having spread its wings across India already, it is looking to enter the markets in neighbouring countries this very year and hopes to derive a sizeable portion of its revenues from these markets in the coming years.
