Rick Panning

When he retired from a long career in clinical laboratory science and health system laboratory management in 2020, Rick knew he was finished with full-time work, but he wanted to continue to be involved in the laboratory industry. Joining the ARUP Healthcare Advisory Services team on a part-time basis in 2021 was an opportunity Rick said he could not pass up. Rick had worked with ARUP as a client since the mid-1980s and knew many of the people on the Business Development and Healthcare Advisory Services teams. Rick is renowned in the laboratory industry for his expertise in lab management, test utilization, outreach development, and technical operations—expertise he’s shared at conferences nationwide and internationally. Rick is also tuned in to the regulatory and government side of the clinical laboratory business. He keeps his finger on the pulse of legislative proposals in Congress and has a great interest in cost-of-care and reimbursement issues and their impact on patients. Rick began working as a medical laboratory scientist right after college and developed expertise in hematology, coagulation, and anatomic pathology while working for health systems in Minnesota. Twice in his career, he’s had the opportunity to develop and build new central labs, which gave him a detail-oriented perspective that he believes can benefit ARUP clients. Rick remains involved in professional organizations, currently serving on the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) Government Affairs Committee and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Rick works for ARUP from Minnesota and enjoys spending time with his two daughters and granddaughter. He is a fan of movies, classical music, and theater. Rick is also a road-biking enthusiast and has toured much of Minnesota and Wisconsin on two wheels, as well as parts of Spain, France, and Sicily.