Babson Diagnostics Leverages Orchard Software to Pioneer BetterWay Blood Testing

Babson Diagnostics partnered with Orchard Software in 2019 to support the research and development phase of their innovative blood collection, processing, and testing methodology. With extensive research studies backing their invention, the company launched BetterWay™ blood testing and transitioned into a commercial laboratory in 2024, leveraging Orchard’s products for connectivity and efficiency.

Babson Diagnostics’ Innovative Blood Testing Process

Babson Diagnostics is the company behind BetterWay blood testing. BetterWay is reimagined blood testing technology that enables capillary blood collection at convenient locations such as retail pharmacies. For quality and affordability, the capillary blood is then tested at high-throughput labs.

Babson launched their startup company in 2017, in Austin, Texas, collaborating with Siemens Healthineers and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) as strategic partners. Babson worked with BD to develop a capillary blood collection device—the FDA-cleared BD MiniDraw™ Capillary Blood Collection System—that uses about one tenth of the amount of blood typically collected in a venous draw. Samples drawn at pharmacies are tested at the BetterWay clinical laboratory using traditional laboratory analyzers. The test menu offers chemistry, immunoassay, and hematology.

Eric Olson, founder and chief operating officer, said, “We’re unique in that our samples are all capillary blood so everything that’s in our laboratory is purpose built for microsamples both in terms of being capillary blood as well as being very small.”

Babson’s Partnership with Orchard

Babson implemented Orchard® Harvest™ in 2019 as a research and development lab. The solution was easy to deploy and easy to use, making it an excellent choice for their clinical trial–level testing volumes.

As they transitioned from being a research laboratory to a commercial laboratory, they needed to invest in an enterprise-level laboratory information system (LIS). After a thorough search, Babson selected Orchard® Enterprise Lab™ for its superior scalability, flexibility, and user experience.

“I think Orchard Enterprise Lab’s flexibility is the most critical factor for us because we have a lot of workflows in our laboratory that don’t exist in any other laboratory,” Olson said. “Our workflow for orders, sample management, testing methodology, and post-processing are all unique, making us a highly customized environment. That makes it important for us to have an LIS that can flex to whatever we need done. And it’s also backed by a company that is capable of working with us to implement the customizations we need.”

Orchard’s LIS Brings Needed Reliability & Connectivity

Orchard has earned Babson’s trust by working with the company from startup to bring their business model into action. To meet their patients’ and providers’ needs, Babson must report reliable results rapidly. Orchard’s solution has the reliability and connectivity that allows the lab to achieve impressive turnaround time (TAT).

Enables Rapid TAT

Of utmost importance to any laboratory organization is having an LIS that is both reliable and offers the tools and connectivity that afford reporting of accurate, rapid results, and Orchard Enterprise Lab is providing these benefits for Babson.

“One of the benefits that our lab teams experience with Orchard Enterprise is that it’s fast and stable—two things that are critical to any commercial organization,” Olson said. “We’re pleased that Orchard Enterprise is both, even under heavy customization.”

Being a unique reference lab where samples are collected largely at retail pharmacies, Babson can deliver impressive, same-day TAT in most cases with Orchard’s solution. Nearly two-thirds (63.8%) of results are reported on the same day samples are collected.

“We provide this level of performance and customer service thanks to the smooth and efficient lab workflows enabled by the Orchard Enterprise Lab LIS,” said Heath Marr, Director of Laboratory Operations at Babson Diagnostics.

Supports Connectivity

Reporting rapid results requires connectivity, and one of Orchard’s greatest strengths is its level of integration expertise. Orchard’s
integration team is highly proficient, and its solutions are built for connectivity. Babson has taken full advantage of this level of expertise in interfacing.

“Connectivity to other systems has been really important for us. Our solution has a link with a whole e-commerce platform that enables people to order tests and look at their results. Being able to have Orchard as an LIS integrated with that enterprise IT platform of ours is critical,” Olson said.

Babson & Orchard Teams Work Together for Solutions

Olson has been familiar with Orchard Software since the early 2000s and is pleased to have watched Orchard grow and develop systems that are designed to support laboratories, right alongside his own company’s design and expansion. Olson appreciates the way that Orchard continues to work closely with his administrative team.

“It’s been a great partnership and we’ve been through a lot of different stages together. We’ve faced many challenges, and the two teams have collaborated to overcome them — everything is going really well,” Olson said.

Babson’s Vision for Future Growth

BetterWay launched in Austin in May 2024, with plans to expand across the state and then beyond. BetterWay currently has a large, scalable laboratory. As their services expand, the plan is to deploy and connect to additional laboratories using Orchard’s software to enable that growth. “Having watched Orchard Software from its early days, I saw the evolution from Harvest to Orchard Enterprise. Feedback from our team is that Orchard’s progression has been a success,” said Olson. “There’s an authentic, positive feeling about what Orchard has been able to achieve with its products.”