LabOne’s Insurance Clients Benefit from New Cincinnati Laboratory

LabOne's new 136,000 square foot, state-of-the-art testing facility in Cincinnati is scheduled to begin processing specimens this summer. The new building will be similar to LabOne's headquarters in Kansas in design and size.

LabOne Cincinnati, May 2005

The Cincinnati laboratory will initially perform clinical testing, but LabOne is enhancing the facility to create a fully redundant insurance laboratory, call center and backup for information systems. As insurance companies rely more on information technology to gather underwriting requirements, the risks of even a minor disruption having a significant impact are compounded. This additional investment in infrastructure should provide uninterrupted service for LabOne’s insurance clients in the event of a disaster in Kansas City.

The Cincinnati laboratory will begin processing specimens in July. The call center and other administrative departments are scheduled to move in over the summer. When the transition is complete in October 2005, more than 500 employees will work in the new facility.

"I'd like to welcome LabOne to Ohio and applaud their decision to bring so many high paying jobs to Cincinnati," said Governor Taft. "Our qualified workforce and easy access to the company's East Coast marketplace are the perfect competitive combination."

"LabOne is taking a leading role in providing disaster recovery solutions to our insurance clients, and the new Cincinnati facility is a great example of this commitment," said W. Thomas Grant II, LabOne chairman, president and CEO. "We believe LabOne's insurance clients will benefit from our investment to create a redundant insurance laboratory and improve information technology."

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Cystatin C

Cystatin C is a cysteine Protease inhibitor that is produced in almost all human cells and excreted into the blood. As a relatively small molecule, it is freely filtered by the kidney and ultimately metabolized by the proximal tubules. Therefore, elevations of Cystatin C reflect decreased glomerular filtration and worsening kidney function. It has been reported that serum creatinine is a poor predictor of renal function in the elderly because it is insensitive, and muscle mass (the source of creatinine) tends to decrease with advancing age.

A recent study of 4637 individuals 65 or older at study inception revealed that Cystatin C was a much stronger predictor of death than was serum creatinine (NEJM 2005;352:2049-60) over the 9 years of follow-up. Those with the highest levels of Cystatin C had an adjusted hazard ratio for all cause mortality of 2.58 (2.03-3.27) as compared to a creatinine hazard ratio of 1.48 (1.18-1.85). When the groupings for Cystatin C were recombined into thirds, the highest third with Cystatin C values > 1.29 mg/L showed an adjusted Hazard Ratio for all cause mortality of 2.05 (1.74-2.4).

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Microalbumin

A recent review article examined the evidence that Microalbumin predicts cardiovascular disease (Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 2005;14:271-276). The authors reviewed multiple clinical studies of the association of albuminuria, mortality, cardiovascular events, and cerebrovascular events.

They report that the Cardiovascular Health Study shows a prevalence of microalbuminuria of 20-30% in diabetics, 11-17% in hypertensives, and 5-15% in the general population.

The conclusion states: “Microalbuminuria is an independent and significant predictor of CVD events and all-cause mortality in patients with diabetes, hypertension, and in the general population. Even levels of albuminuria below the conventional cutoff point are independently predictive of cardiovascular events.”

Elsewhere the authors predict: “Future absolute risk prediction scores for primary cardiovascular events could include microalbuminuria as a modifiable risk factor.”

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From time to time, we have passed along "regulatory updates" to our customers related to the use of LabOne information by the industry. This regulatory update/notice is related to the "disposal of consumer information" recently released by the FTC.

Notice Type: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Notice

New Rule: On June 1, 2005, the FTC imposed a new rule requiring all businesses and organizations maintaining or possessing consumer report information to properly dispose of consumer report information. The rule's purpose is to reduce the risk of consumer fraud and identity theft created by improper disposal of consumer information.

Date of Change: June 1, 2005

Description of New Requirement: The rule applies to all businesses and organizations that maintain or possess consumer report information and records in connection with (1) credit transactions, (2) employment purposes, (3) underwriting of insurance, (4) the valuation or assessment of the credit or prepayment risks associated with an existing credit obligation, or (5) other legitimate business needs.

The rule defines "consumer information" as any record about an individual, whether in paper, electronic or other form that is a consumer report or derived from a consumer report. "Disposal" is defined as the discarding or abandonment of consumer information or the sale, donation or transfer of any medium, including computer equipment, upon which consumer information is stored.

According to the FTC, a consumer report consists of information obtained by a Consumer Reporting Agency and contains information regarding an individual's personal and credit characteristics, character, general reputation and lifestyle. Examples of consumer report information are credit checks, Motor Vehicle Reports, Inspection Reports and Criminal Background checks, etc.

Requested Action:

All businesses and organizations that use consumer report information are impacted by this rule. The FTC rule requires them to perform an independent review of all internal policies and procedures regarding the disposal of consumer report information. The rule does not require disposal, it only addresses what businesses should do if they choose to dispose of the information.

Under the rule, affected businesses and organizations must use reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the consumer information, both during and after the disposal process. Reasonable measures are determined by the sensitivity of the consumer information, the nature and size of the entity's operations, the costs and benefits of different disposal methods and relevant technological changes.

LabOne’s Commitment: Just as this rule may require compliance by organizations such as yours, it also applies to LabOne. We are taking all reasonable measures to comply with the rule to ensure proper disposal of consumer report information. Since you are a valued LabOne insurance customer, we want to ensure that you are aware of this new rule and its impact on all businesses and organizations using consumer report information.

For More Information:

Questions about the new rule, please visit the FTC Web site at www.ftc.gov, or contact the FTC Division of Financial Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection at (202) 326-3224.

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CaseOne and Life2000

CaseOne is an outstanding solution for clients who use multiple and redundant systems to order and manage requirements. Standardizing of processes help businesses achieve greater efficiency, transparency, and control. Outcomes of CaseOne are reduction of costs, improvement of application cycle time, and a more efficient process.

One current project underway will add several enhancements to the CaseOne system. Features and benefits available when this project concludes this summer includes:

• Implementation of web services as a communication method
• Addition of two new service providers (First Financial and IIS)
• Ability to send an 'add transaction' and 'cancel transaction'
• Six management reports will be available for all clients
• Test simulator to support automated testing

Please contact your LabOne Regional Vice President if you would like to learn more about CaseOne.

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Insurance Employee Highlight

Sharon Norris is a supervisor in Insurance Client Services. Sharon has been with LabOne for more than 17 years and has been a supervisor for 15 years. She has worked extensively with the sensitive results area, handling reporting of positive drug and HIV results.

"I enjoy problem solving and answering client questions and concerns."

"She is an incredible 'Sherlock Holmes' running down all sorts of info for me and our clients. Could not do without Sharon," said Betsy Sears, Senior Vice President of Customer Service and Sales Support.

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TechView 360

TechView 360 allows technicians performing paramedical services for ExamOne a secure login to ExamOne’s exam tracking system. With TechView 360 technicians contracting with ExamOne, who have access to a computer, printer and an internet connection, now have the option work "Real Time" with the ExamOne office.

Some of the benefits of TechView 360 are:

• A secure, "Real Time" working environment. When cases are assigned to the technician they are available for immediate viewing by the technician, from order entry or read in — eliminating the need for calling, mailing, faxing or emailing work orders.
• TechView 360 allows technicians to access their order 24/7, 365 days a year.
• One button view of all Open and Scheduled cases.
• One button view of all scheduled cases for today.
• One button option to print “all” work orders on cases scheduled for today.
• One button option to view all scheduled cases for tomorrow.
• One button option to view all completed cases for the past 120 days.
• The ability to discern between cases that have been scheduled locally (by the technician and the ExamOne office) or those scheduled through Schedule Now, or preset by the exam requestor.
• The option to print each work order individually.
• The option for the technician to input pending case status that is immediately available to the ExamOne office, ExamOne.com members and in read out to our Insurance Home Office partners.

TechView was designed with ExamOne’s paramedical technicians in mind. Our goal is to enhance their performance by providing options allowing them to take advantage of ExamOne’s technology today!

TechView is an exciting new and free service that benefits all of ExamOne partners, from Insurance Carriers, their agents, agencies, to the ExamOne office and their technicians.

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