Meet Rachel, founder of amwell data services

In a nutshell:

Rachel guides veterinary teams to strategically utilize their lab services, saving them time, money, and headaches.

Rachel A. Lemcke, BS, MS

Independent Veterinary Laboratory Consultant & Owner, Amwell Data Services LLC

Rachel is the founder of Amwell Data Services, a full-service independent veterinary laboratory consulting agency. She formed Amwell Data Services to help give veterinarians and their teams more margin, with the larger goal of helping make careers in veterinary medicine more sustainable.

Her diverse scientific background and love of animals--particularly horses--made for a great fit as a Laboratory Manager for nearly four years at a large private equine referral hospital. Throughout her time in the industry, she realized many veterinary practices aren't leveraging their laboratory services as well as they could for overall practice stability and growth. From pricing analysis to equipment and test selection, to improving workflow efficiencies, Rachel is dedicated to morphing the veterinary laboratory into a thriving, evolving asset for vets and their teams.

Beyond the lab, she's an avid orchid grower and enthusiast, amateur watercolor and acrylics painter, and adoptive mom of 16-year old farm cat/favorite coworker "Sneakers."

Founded in late 2020, Amwell Data Services LLC provides hands-on consulting for veterinary practices, specializing in laboratory planning, optimization, and growth. We work closely with veterinary teams to build personalized workflows to boost productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

Dedicated to morphing the veterinary laboratory into an evolving asset for veterinarians & their teams.

Accolades

"I’ve worked with Rachel for four years and developed a deep respect for her intellect, ingenuity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills...

When I came to her with a small problem of underutilization, she was extremely motivated by first improving equine wellness and then incorporating that into a systematic plan that solved the immediate problem. What was born as a little “project” developed into a working relationship of improving equine wellness thru development of working, usable, repeatable “tools” that improved practice efficiency, profitability and client compliance."

Victoria Vaughn

Industry Professional

"....Rachel is a problem solver, and while her professional focus is on lab services, I wouldn't hesitate to consult with her any time I had a problem that I needed solving."

"The most important service that Amwell Data Services offers is effective listening. Rachel spent a significant portion of her time working with us to sit down and listen to all stakeholders share their feedback and ideas about what improvements they wanted to see in lab operations. She was able to take all of those competing perspectives from staff, vets, and techs, and find a series of solutions that made positive improvements for everyone. Never once did she attempt to apply a cookie cutter solution to us - she was incredibly focused on finding the right solution that worked for us. She was receptive to all kinds of feedback throughout the process, and monitored her implemented changes to ensure that they worked as planned. In instances where there were hiccups along the way, she took the time to write protocols, train our staff, or, if it was clear the process just wouldn't work, would simply move on to another, better solution. If the best solution required her to teach herself a new skill or platform, she would do so without being asked in order to keep the process moving forward. Rachel is a problem solver, and while her professional focus is on lab services, I wouldn't hesitate to consult with her any time I had a problem that I needed solving."

Adam Furlong, Vice-President, Operations, B. W. Furlong & Associates, Oldwick, NJ

Education

BS, Animal Science with Business Minor

Berry College, 2013

MS, Animal Science

Cornell University, 2017

Select Recent Research & Publications

Awarded a 2020 American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians (AARV) Research Grant

Research Topic: Evaluating the Connection Between Lameness and Lyme Disease in Sport Horses

Est. Presentation Date: 2023

K. Clark & R. Lemcke

"Utilization of Serum Amyloid A in Managing the Clinical Progression of Equine Bacterial Pneumonia"

Poster Presentation, 2019 ACVIM Forum, Phoenix, AZ

Oral Presentation, 2019 Bain Fallon Memorial Lectures, Australia

Manuscript, Ready for Submission

Poster Available Here

R. Lemcke, R. Belgrave

"Pathogen Surveillance of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Young Racehorses"

Manuscript, In Progress, March 2018

Abridged Article Available Here (pg. 13)

R. Lemcke, R. Belgrave, R. Keene

"Performance assessment of different diagnostic assays to identify EPM-affected horses in a clinical setting"

Oral Presentation, 2nd EPM Society Workshop, Tahoe City, CA, October 2017

Manuscript with Update and Expansion, Ready for Submission

Abstract Available Here

R. Lemcke, R. Belgrave, J. Morrow, N. Pusterla

"Anti-Müllerian hormone type II receptor in avian follicle development"

Biology of Reproduction, 2018

R. Lemcke, C. Stephens, K. Hildebrandt, P. Johnson

Rachel's STORY

Rachel's work ethic and compassion for animals were developed at an early age while caring for an absent neighbor's menagerie for years on end. The drive to improve the animals' welfare and housing, coupled with an enduring curiosity, pushed Rachel to constructively question her abilities and possibilities. Over the years, these traits have blossomed, helping shape Rachel into a significant asset and positive catalyst for change.

Rachel’s career in the sciences began at Berry College, where she accepted an Undergraduate Research position. She helped conduct large research projects on quantitative genetics and population structure of Angus cattle, as well as canine and equine spermatogonial stem cells. Her advisor still raves about her meticulous organizational skills, diligence, and ability to focus.

During her time at Cornell University, she took on the unique field of avian reproductive physiology, characterizing a hormone receptor in ovarian function. Rachel took the initiative to additionally study comparable mammalian and vertebrate physiology and hormonal regulation for greater insight into the less-studied avian system. This methodology, coupled with a creative comparative genomic analysis, allowed her to successfully locate and sequence the hormone receptor, opening the door for downstream gene and protein expression analysis that she later carried out.

In October 2016, Rachel joined the team at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center, one of the nation's leading emergency and medical equine veterinary hospitals, working in the laboratory. She was tasked with updating and improving procedures and refocusing the laboratory to provide better patient care. Within her first six months, her initiative and productivity had been rewarded with three promotions, and the responsibility of Laboratory Manager. Not only was the lab highly successful with day-to-day operations under Rachel's close supervision, but the laboratory was able to better contribute to the business side. For example, Rachel worked with executives to help identify critical and novel fiscal factors that allowed for updated and improved profitability calculations. Her dedicated efforts across the board earned the respect of her team, and she enjoyed transforming and improving the laboratory and thus the patient experience.

In addition, she was given the opportunity to work with the Hospital President and collaborate with industry professionals in multiple research areas. Rachel's enthusiasm, dedication, and unique skill set were catalysts in revitalizing high-level research at the clinic. Within the span of eight months, three separate research projects were initialized and completed under Rachel's guidance and perseverance, in addition to significant strides on two other projects. For all five, Rachel was the main "point person," leading and organizing research efforts, and working in step with the Hospital Owner. Her dedication to both the laboratory and research enabled her to help boost the hospital's long-standing position in cutting-edge equine veterinary medicine and research.

Rachel realized her interests in hands-on business tools and strategies had grown, leading her to open Amwell Data Services LLC in the fall of 2020 to help veterinary practices evolve, particularly by better leveraging their laboratory services. She realized many practices have limited access to third-party, independent educational resources to guide them through assembling a strong and successful approach to laboratory services. She uses a straightforward pay-per-project pricing model for her services since many practices forego typical veterinary consulting services due to costly retainer fees, annual commitments, and nebulous pricing.

Rachel Lemcke, Owner and Founder of Amwell Data Services