And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

Here are two more personal experiences from other people who have been irked by Labcorp.

Read the first story here.

Read the other story here.

Running on Empty

Since our Lab was taken over by a Large Laboratory Corporation a few years ago, we have revamped our ordering system. It seems that accumulating inventory costs money because of taxes and other reasons. So we have pretty much gone to the just-in-time ordering philosophy, and not having any back-up supplies for heavy unanticipated heavy volume or suppliers back ordering items. There are problems with this, though. When an item is back ordered by a company, then we are just out of that item. If we ordered it from another company, then it would cost more and Corporate management does not like that. We are constrained by upper management as to where we can order our supplies, and brands differ from week to week as price shifts in the marketplace.

The result is that every week, or really, every day, we are out of something. So we must do some sort of work-around for some tests almost every day. We have to "make do", "deal with it" or do whatever it takes. Sometimes, what it takes is delaying tests until we get supplies, and thus delaying patient results. And it means sometimes that we do not follow our usual standard procedures. And sometimes in means that we can’t do the test at all, so we have to send it out to another lab to perform, which, once again, delays patient results.

But we can get away with this because people using our lab do not see the inner workings. They see only the incoming specimens and test orders and the report on the other side. They do not see the confusion and disorder that actually goes on.

Labcorp contract with United Health Care - a good thing?

It looks like you have to break a few eggs in order to make money.

In one case, The Connecticut State Medical Society has written to the state attorney general about United's exclusive contract with LabCorp.

Here is the article.

In another case, Doctor's are protesting the terms of the contract.

Read the article.

Trial to decide - did Labcorp misdiagnose cancer?

Did Labcorp misdiagnose cancer? That is to be decided in a malpractice suit filed recently.

Read article here.

Fallible Results?

It would seem that DNA tests can be wrong. Here is one case where a judge decided against Labcorp.

Washington Post article

Are we compliant enough?

We have to be trained how to be compliant with the billing and reimbursement by Medicare laws once every year. I almost know the whole presentation by heart by now.

More about compliance.

It starts out with the fact that Labcorp paid out a huge settlement to the government back in the 1990's.

Labcorp settlement

This is to show how important it is for us, the employees, to follow the law. Next is all about the law and how to follow it. It is almost as if we are being set up as the fall guys for the next violation that happens.

There is one interesting section where we are told about how there is a compliance officer and we are to call that person with any suspicions that compliance is not being followed, but there is one fact that is quickly glossed over. If one calls the government and blows the whistle on the lab's violations, then you get a percentage of the settlement the government collects, which could be enough to retire on.

Here is one such case.

Are we enlisted to help the lab hide what they are doing with billing from the government regulators? The billing problems are investigated by the FBI, so if you want to "rat out" your lab, just call your local office of the FBI.

The interesting thing about this was when the trainer said that there are two things that the lab receives and two things that the lab sends out. He made it sound like the lab is some sort of a black box. The lab receives a doctor's orders and a specimen. That is what goes in one side of the black box. What comes out the other side is a lab report and a bill. An account receivable. Money. Profit.

What was unsaid is that the input side of the laboratory black box needs money to run. As long as the output exceeds the input in regards to money, all is well. What really doesn't matter is patient care, client service or precision or accuracy. All that is inside the black box and unseen by the managers. It doesn't matter to them. Their job is to minimize the input money and maximize the output money. All of which makes life for lab rats like me very stressful. One way to relieve that stress is to blow the lid off that black box and give people a look inside.

Labcorp drops the ball again.

And here is yet another poor performance from Labcorp. Be sure and click on the links within the message for more information.

Click here to read.

And another Blogger who had a bad experience at Labcorp.

Click to read.

Slave Labor

Well, it is not just me. Here is an interesting discussion about Labcorp and Dynacare. This matches my experience almost exactly. Especially the "work like a slave" part.


Click here to see the discussion.

And in other news, it seems that Labcorp needs to try harder, since it is number two.

Click here for the survey.

Introduction

Call me Lab Rat. I work for a large Laboratory Corporation in a large medical lab in a major city. I don't want to narrow it down more than that just yet. This Blog is for me to to blow off steam about my work. Since I have worked there for a number of years, I have built up a lot of steam to blow off.

If you want to know what really goes on in a medical lab, behind the nice friendly facade, then stay tuned. Sordid details will follow as I get myself organized.