How to Improve Lab Turnaround Time (TAT): Why Every Hour Counts
For many clinicians, timeliness in lab billing matters as much as service quality. In fact, a 1-minute reduction in lab TAT correlates with a 0.50-minute decrease in emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) across broad patient populations.
In other words, the shorter the lab TAT, the faster the diagnoses, the shorter the hospital stays, and the lower the costs. Here at Synapse Lab Billing, we help labs understand why every hour counts in turnaround time (TAT), the cause of its delays, and how to improve your lab’s TAT through outsourcing your billing.
The real outcome? Better clinician reliance, fewer duplicate tests from delays, and patient satisfaction. Let’s take a closer look now.
Key Takeaways
1. Turnaround time (TAT) is a benchmark for laboratory performance, particularly in communicating timeliness.
3. Pre- and post-analytical phases often account for 75% of TAT delays.
4. Many laboratories have employed effective solutions, such as automation, structured workflow modifications, staff training, and regular interdepartmental communication, to improve their total TAT.
What is turnaround time (TAT)?
Turnaround time (TAT) is a measurement of time “from receipt of the sample in the laboratory to final delivery or dispatch of the report of said test.” Doctors use this as a benchmark for laboratory performance, particularly in communicating timeliness.
According to a study in 2020, TAT can be determined by three factors:
1. The window of testing from venepuncture as prescribed by the test manufacturers.
3. The clinician’s timeline (emergency or quick-resulted laboratory testing vs routine laboratory testing).
Pre-analytical time (lab-to-lab) – the time from first registration at any laboratory to referral receipt at the designated testing laboratory.
Analytical time (reg-to-test) – the time from registration at the testing laboratory to result transmission to the LIS.
Post-analytical time (test-to-review) – the time from test transmission onto the LIS to result review and verification by a senior laboratory staff member (i.e. results become available for the requesting physician or nurse to access).
Thus, TAT serves as a quality indicator for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the testing process and the satisfaction of clinicians and patients.
Why does turnaround time (TAT) matter?
When TAT is shorter, you can directly improve care outcomes:
Early interventions lead to fewer extended emergency stays.
Labs handle higher volumes without extra staff.
Lower hospital costs through shorter stays.
In fact, a radiology lab observed a significant improvement in TAT, rising from 88% in June 2023 to 95% in March 2024 (p < 0.05), thereby enhancing operational efficiency.
Meanwhile, an outpatient laboratory increased its target TAT achievement rate from 78.5% to 88.7% (p < 0.001), thereby improving the quality of laboratory services.
This shows that TAT should not be overlooked; it is a key component of lab and clinician success.
What are the causes of turnaround time (TAT) delays?
Delays can happen at any stage of the lab process. Pre- and post-analytical phases often account for 75% of delays.
The reasons for TAT delays may be due to:
What strategies can you use to improve lab turnaround time (TAT)?
Many laboratories have employed effective solutions that improved their total TAT, including:
Automation
C. In microbiology labs, total lab automation (TLA) systems like WASPLab cut TAT for blood cultures from 97 hours to 53.5 hours, a 45% reduction, and for other samples from 73 to 58 hours.
Structured Workflow Modifications
A. Target bottlenecks like transportation and batch delays, which often yield 50-70% TAT reductions through lean principles.
Staff Training
Regular Interdepartmental Case Discussions
C. Labs that use such meetings report smoother coordination, indirectly shortening TAT by 20-35% through improved interdepartmental flow.
How can outsourcing lab billing help you with TAT?
While improving Turnaround Time (TAT) requires significant time and resources, partnering with a billing expert like Synapse helps you reclaim those resources. By offloading administrative burdens, your team can focus entirely on optimizing TAT through core testing workflows.
Moreover, outsourcing can help remove bottlenecks caused by billing queries that interrupt testing:
For instance, a Synapse client, Diagnostic Lab XYZ, achieved a 60% increase in payments and a 52% rise in average charges due to our highly effective workflows that flag claim errors at a glance.
Make Every Hour Count, Value Timeliness with Synapse
With Synapse, you’re not just improving turnaround time; you’re making sure every hour in the lab is productive.
By automating the manual work and streamlining workflows, we empower your team to focus on higher-value tasks, reduce bottlenecks, and end the day knowing they made the most of their time.
About Synapse Lab Billing
Synapse Lab Billing maximizes your laboratory’s revenue and operations by providing accurate and efficient lab billing and revenue cycle management. From EMR/EHR and laboratory coding to credentialing, we equip you with a full suite of strategic advisory support to reach more patients and deliver better care. By translating the inner complexities of billing into simple, seamless workflows, you can focus on what matters most: sampling and analyzing tests for diagnosis and treatment.
Sources:
Al Qassabi, B., et al. (2025). Improving Turnaround Times and Operational Efficiency in Radiology Services: Quality Improvement Study in Oman. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 26(5), 1709–1718. https://doi.org/10.31557/apjcp.2025.26.5.1709
Cherie, N., Berta, et al. (2024). Improving laboratory turnaround times in clinical settings: A systematic review of the impact of lean methodology application. PLoS ONE, 19(10), e0312033–e0312033. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312033
Coetzee, L.-M., Cassim, N., & Glencross, D. K. (2020). Weekly laboratory turn-around time identifies poor performance masked by aggregated reporting. African Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.1102
Fontana, C., Favaro, M., Pelliccioni, M., Minelli, S., Bossa, M. C., Altieri, A., D’Orazi, C., Paliotta, F., Cicchetti, O., Minieri, M., Prezioso, C., Limongi, D., & D’agostini, C. (2023). Laboratory Automation in Microbiology: Impact on Turnaround Time of Microbiological Samples in COVID Time. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 13(13), 2243. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13132243
Goswami, B., Singh, B., Chawla, R., Gupta, V. K., & Mallika, V. (2010). Turn Around Time (TAT) as a Benchmark of Laboratory Performance. Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry, 25(4), 376–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-010-0056-4
Lee, S., Yoon, S., Lee, W., Chun, S., & Min, W. (2022). Strategies to shorten turnaround time in outpatient laboratory. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, 36(10). https://doi.org/10.1002/jcla.24665
Kaushik, N., Khangulov, V. S., O’Hara, M., & Arnaout, R. (2018). Reduction in laboratory turnaround time decreases emergency room length of stay. Open Access Emergency Medicine, Volume 10, 37–45. https://doi.org/10.2147/oaem.s155988
Strategies for Improving Laboratory Turnaround Times in Internal Medicine. (2023). Letters in High Energy Physics, 2023(Issue 2). https://lettersinhighenergyphysics.com/index.php/LHEP/article/view/1128