Labcorp has completed its acquisition of select non-hospital lab assets from Ballad Health, the independent laboratory company said Wednesday. A purchase price was not immediately available.
Johnson City, Tennessee-based Ballad Health will retain operations of its inpatient and emergency department laboratory services, as well as lab services for hospital-based practices, according to a news release.
Related: Why Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics are buying hospital labs
Labcorp has completed similar deals this year with Springfield, Massachusetts-based Baystate Health, Renton, Washington-based Providence Health and Services and Naples, Florida-based NCH Healthcare System, company officials said in a September interview with Modern Healthcare.
The latest deal continues a trend of health systems selling off parts of their laboratory business to save on costs and focus on other areas of their operations. Independent lab companies often can provide a higher volume of tests at a lower cost compared with hospitals performing tests at their own facilities.
Quest Diagnostics, another independent lab company, has also been on a roll acquiring hospital lab services in the past year, including select assets from Columbus-based Ohio Health, Cleveland-based University Hospitals and Minneapolis-based Allina Health.
