Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Scaling Laboratory Services for Growth at Brown University Health with Christopher Burks
Mar 7, 2026
Christopher Burks, Vice President of Laboratory and Support Services at Brown University Health and trained microbiologist, walks through integrating acquired hospitals and aligning lab and revenue operations. He talks staffing and infrastructure discoveries, planning lab capacity for ambulatory growth, and using data and benchmarking to guide expansion decisions.
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Integrating Acquired Massachusetts Labs
- Christopher Burks led integration of the Massachusetts campus after acquiring former Steward facilities into Brown University Health's lab operations.
- He brought outsourced services in-house where strategic, aligned vendors/contracts, and reinvested savings into infrastructure and staffing.
Sync Lab Output With Revenue Cycle Immediately
- Align lab operations with revenue cycle early to ensure CPT codes, billing, and collections match laboratory output.
- Christopher Burks prioritized verifying bills go out correctly after merging different LIS and financial systems.
People Capital Enabled Faster Integration
- People capital mattered most during integration because staff were eager for change and adaptable to new systems.
- That willingness let leadership fix asset management and consolidate testing instead of starting with heavy hiring.