Executive War College 2025 Conference Recap (part 1 of 3)
Laying the Foundation for Lab 2.0: the Direct-to-Consumer Opportunity
As labs look to expand in non-traditional diagnostics markets, one growing trend is Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) lab testing. At Executive War College 2025, Patrick Schaffer, Chief Business Officer at Lifepoint Informatics and Dave Pellegore Director of IT at MaineHealth/NorDx presented what, at first glance, appears to be an overnight success story in launching their DTC program. But behind the scenes, it was a calculated, multi-year journey that could offer a blueprint for how regional labs can enter the DTC market and thrive.
A $100 Million Signal
In 2024 Quest Diagnostics generated $100 million from its DTC business last year. In the context of their $9+ billion in annual revenue, it’s only a modest slice, but it’s a telling one. The fact that a major player like Quest has invested in DTC infrastructure, marketing, and consumer-facing portals is a clear signal of where the diagnostics market is headed. This segment may still be small in absolute terms, but its year-over-year growth of 10%+ CAGR in the United States (31%+ CAGR globally) and consumer appeal suggest that it’s more than a passing trend. For regional and specialty labs, this represents not just an opportunity to diversify, but a chance to lead in an emerging market where agility and patient-centricity matter more than scale.
The Case for the Direct-to-Consumer Opportunity
Consumer interest in DTC testing is practical and growing. Insurance often only covers basic tests at limited intervals, one cholesterol test per year, for example. But health-conscious patients want more frequent insights. Others seek DTC testing for privacy reasons, especially for STIs or men’s health panels. The rise of at-home testing kits shows that convenience is now a major part of the patient experience.
Adding momentum to this shift is the growing role of employers in promoting preventative care through corporate wellness initiatives and executive health programs. Employer/employee portals enable employees to proactively monitor their health, often outside traditional insurance limitations.
It’s a model that aligns directly with the Clinical Lab 2.0 vision: labs contributing not just to diagnostics, but to personalized, preventive, and value-based care. For regional and specialty labs, this isn’t just a new revenue channel, it’s an opportunity to redefine their role in the broader healthcare ecosystem.
NorDx + Lifepoint: A Playbook for DTC Transformation
NorDx (part of Maine Health) is the largest regional laboratory in the state of Maine, providing a full range of laboratory services. Lifepoint Informatics is a leading healthcare IT vendor focused on clinical integration, health information exchange, and data interoperability solutions.
The NorDx-Lifepoint collaboration offers some compelling answers. What began as a technical overhaul to replace outdated lab infrastructure evolved into a DTC-ready platform. By onboarding Lifepoint’s technology, NorDx was able to introduce remote printing, better EMR integration, and a scalable consumer-facing interface. Key to their strategy was minimizing disruption for existing clients while gradually laying the groundwork for DTC offerings.
“What makes DTC testing successful isn’t just the front-end experience—it’s what happens behind-the-scenes. Labs need systems that align with their internal workflows, from physician approval to result delivery. That’s where true value and reliability are built.
It’s also about engaging and aligning with marketing teams early to build awareness and to optimize the customer experience”
Dave Pellegore, Director of IT, MaineHealth (NorDx)
This wasn’t just a tech project, it was a rethinking of lab business models. The “DTC 2.0” solution they deployed included patient-friendly features like upfront payment, consumer portals, scalable test menus, and multi-factor authentication. In contrast to their early DTC effort during the COVID-19 pandemic (a single-test, no-portal system), this new iteration was a comprehensive e-commerce platform for diagnostics.
“There are a lot of direct-to-consumer products out there, but very few are fully integrated with clinical care pathways.
To succeed in direct-to-consumer testing, labs need a flexible technology partner—one that can integrate with physician approval workflows, adapt to regional restrictions, and align with the lab’s internal processes. It’s not about building a website; it’s about ensuring the entire backend supports how your lab actually operates.”
Patrick Schaeffer, Chief Business Officer, Lifepoint Informatics
Lessons from the Field
Using NorDx/MaineHealth as an example, these are the factors that set successful DTC programs apart:
- Partnering Smart: Regional labs can’t go it alone. Partnering with other labs to expand their market coverage and choosing flexible tech solutions like Lifepoint and Dendi enables fully integrated new capabilities without starting from scratch.
- Marketing Buy-In Early: Traditionally labs have undervalued marketing since they haven’t needed to sell directly to patients. In this segment, marketing messaging is vital for communicating the value proposition especially as an emerging service concept. For NorDx and Incite Health, early alignment with marketing meant better user journeys, clearer messaging, and faster adoption.
- Ease of Use as Strategy: From consumer-friendly test menus and clear reports to pricing transparency, kit tracking, and streamlined physician approvals, user experience must be a priority, not an afterthought.
- Launch Strategically: The NorDx rollout started small and focused. Only after validating the process did they expand menus and marketing campaigns. A slow, deliberate launch mitigated risk.
Dendi’s Take: The Road Ahead: Lab 2.0
While the long-term viability of DTC as a primary distribution model remains uncertain, the broader healthcare landscape points to strong signals of consumer-driven growth. Companies like Ro, Hims, and Oura have proven that consumers want a more active role in managing their health without needing to see their physician, even in diagnostic testing. Function Health is exemplary of this demand with 50,000 users (and a 200,000-person waitlist since launch) that see value in their routine annual comprehensive testing program which offers five times more testing than typical primary care.
Investing in marketing is also crucial. Even Quest has stated that they’ve invested in a consumer omnichannel marketing strategy: streaming audio, social media, traditional video, online video. It’s important to build brand authority and create demand by guiding consumers through this relatively novel healthcare journey.
For labs, this trend presents both opportunity and risk. We agree with NorDx’s pragmatic and iterative approach. Investing in flexible infrastructure partners like Lifepoint and Dendi can give labs the capability to quickly implement custom protocols, adapt to changing needs, and create opportunities for product differentiation.
Dendi has also worked with Lifepoint and other vendors to help labs go to market with DTC pharmacogenomics solutions tailored for patient autonomy. Our role in providing the necessary infrastructure like API integrations into Salesforce and HubSpot, enabling real-time data flow between lab systems and CRM platforms. Labs also leverage Dendi’s LIS-to-EMR interfacing, patient consent flows, and payment capture, all while preserving user experience.
Strong data integrations capabilities allow labs to easily partner with other labs to expand access while building brand equity and operational readiness. It’s also necessary to align with marketing initiatives early, not just to promote services, but to shape them around real patient needs, i.e. the infrastructure for simple ordering processes and insightful reports.
Dendi supports forward-thinking strategies by making it easier for labs to plug into the systems, workflows, and patient experiences that modern healthcare demands. Because at the heart of Clinical Lab 2.0 is a shift from volume to value, from transactional testing to being an active participant in preventive, personalized care. DTC isn’t just a business model; it’s a proving ground for what the modern lab can become.