Formed in 2018 to “uphold the highest standards in diagnostics,” Ellie Diagnostics is a full-service veterinary diagnostics laboratory dedicated to improving animal health by making wellness testing more accessible.
Mark DeCourcy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, talks about why Ellie Diagnostics is a great fit for veterinary practices across the country.
Q: Tell us about your idea for a new type of diagnostics company in the veterinary space.
A: I thought there was a huge opportunity to help veterinarians enhance the entire diagnostics experience after I took Ellie (my 16-year-old Cavachon!) to the veterinarian a few years ago. During that visit, I was surprised by the lack of information provided about testing, and that there wasn’t anything to guide me through the results on the lab report to reinforce the value of the costly testing. These are all opportunities for improvement that Ellie Diagnostics now helps veterinarians overcome.
Q: What sets Ellie apart from other diagnostics companies?
A: Bottom line, Ellie cares. Our team of experts pours themselves into helping veterinarians provide the absolute best care. We have fantastic customer service, use the latest technology to provide the highest quality, and offer unique business-friendly customer relationships instead of long-term contracts.
A huge benefit of being an independent laboratory is how flexible and agile we can be. We don’t believe in things like phone trees and red tape. We pride ourselves in being very responsive to our customers’ needs.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you must overcome while bringing a new laboratory option to a segment of the industry that is dominated by two behemoths?
A: Trust and awareness. Every veterinarian knows our competitors and often assumes that they are the gold standard. Ellie is a new name and veterinarians are discovering the quality of the diagnostics that we provide and the white-glove approach to how we service and support their practices. Once they move to Ellie, our customers are often extremely happy with our results.
Q: How have you made wellness tests more accessible?
A: Multiple ways! Our complimentary Wellie reports include a great summary with a health score that helps veterinarians and technicians have meaningful conversations with their clients. By including a consumer-friendly report, you will see an increase in diagnostic compliance. In addition, our prices make wellness testing affordable for pet owners.
Q: How can Ellie’s diagnostics improve a practice’s bottom line?
A: Diagnostics is the No. 1 opportunity for clinics to improve clinical outcomes. Fortunately, it’s also the No. 1 opportunity to increase the bottom line. Our customers often experience price savings, but more importantly we work hand-in-hand to help improve compliance, which has a much bigger impact by increasing both revenue and profit.
Q: What about costs to pet owners?
A: This is completely up to the veterinary clinics. Ellie has competitive pricing and offers the most unique membership options with the veterinarian business owner in mind.
Q: Explain your emphasis on technology. For example, how does Ellie’s software integrate with a practice’s PIMS?
A: We’re an advanced technology company and we use that strength to improve every stage of the diagnostics process for our customers. With most PIMS, we have bi-directional integrations, which allows clinics to place test orders right in their PIMS and then view the results in the PIMS. In addition, we have a fantastic cloud-based system that supplies you, the practice owner, with analytics and flexibility. Behind the scenes, we utilize proprietary advanced software that enables a seamless workflow to support our laboratory team, achieving an 8:30 a.m. turnaround time across the country.
Q: What are the benefits of working with an independent laboratory?
A: It’s great to work with like-minded people. We have dozens of veterinarians who have ownership of the company, which ensures that we have our customers’ priorities top of mind. One of the best feedback we have received is that Ellie listens; we know our clients are at the frontline of veterinary medicine, and their thoughts and suggestions are our greatest strategic advantage.
Mark DeCourcy, Founder & CEO
Founder and CEO Mark DeCourcy has deep knowledge of the diagnostics industry. He has assembled a team of animal health experts to develop a suite of innovative services to improve the diagnostics experience for veterinarians. The result is a growing diagnostics company that's flexible to the needs of each clinic with customized services to help their practice save time and drive revenue.
Chief Dog Ellie (2007-2024) - “There is no better legacy that a dog could leave than Ellie Diagnostics, a company dedicated to helping other animals live longer and better lives. Mark DeCourcy Founder, CEO & Ellie’s Dad