Western Slope Laboratory was formed in 2003 as the first wholly-owned subsidiary of Coventry Diagnostics LLC. Coventry, named after the ancient city of Coventry in England, was created to pursue advanced testing techniques and to design and produce effective Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) using saliva and urine as matrices and high performance liquid chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry and time-of-flight as analytical technologies.
David R. Schneider, a Ph.D. Pharmacologist teaching at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan at the time, was convinced that saliva was the “Magic Mirror” to health and that mass spectral-based diagnostics was to become integral to future healthcare diagnostic initiatives. Dr. Schneider began the process of developing testing methodologies for drugs of abuse and prescription drugs, steroids, heavy metals, wellness-related compounds as well as bio-marker detection and measurement. Since his passing in 2009, the vision he had for Coventry Diagnostics and Western Slope Laboratory has been pursued as if he was still with us.
No other laboratory provides the level of urine and saliva analysis than does Western Slope and, therefore, no other laboratory is as uniquely position to deliver the quality and efficiency required by healthcare reform as Western Slope is. This strategic positioning is a direct outgrowth of Dr. Schneider’s vision.
Business Strategy
While other toxicology laboratories develop testing methodologies meant to maximize revenues derived from billing third-party payers (government or otherwise), Western Slope Laboratory has steadfastly adhered to the belief that, eventually, quality analytics, coupled with testing efficiencies, would provide a valuable competitive strategy.
The result of our commitment to this strategy has been business-to-business service arrangements where quality and pricing are both instrumental to success. Western Slope Laboratory is uniquely positioned to service laboratories, commercial insurance companies, physician practices and Independent Physician Associations, commercial Accountable Care Organizations, as they are known under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, and/or companies that manage either or all of these healthcare delivery entities. We also provide consulting services to laboratories seeking installation of technologies routinely used at Western Slope Laboratory.
Western Slope Laboratory provides services internationally and has received samples from 5 continents. International expansion is a priority and projects are currently underway in that regard. A further result of our commitment to this strategy is the a continuous flow of laboratory developed tests.
Western Slope Laboratory does not participate in any of the federally-funded healthcare programs in the United States and does not test samples provided by those covered under such plans.
Commitment to Technology
While the standard testing approach of “screen and confirm” has served the toxicology laboratory industry well in the past, we believe that advancements in technology and a dedication to high quality has made this approach unnecessary. Western Slope Laboratory is firmly committed to the utilization of analytical technology that allows for quantitative analysis under high through-put conditions – producing maximum quality at maximum efficiency.
Our laboratory includes LC/MS/MS, ICP/MS, HPLC-UV, LC/QTRAP, LC/HRMS, and TOF technologies. Immunoassay and other qualitative analytical processes are absent.