Here’s something really interesting. A few weeks ago LabCorp employees started posting comments on this site in support and defense of the company and employees. Shortly thereafter, www.labcorpsucks.com almost dissappeared from the Google search results. There does not appear to be a reasonable explanation for this to happen, as this site has lots of visits from dissatisfied LabCorp patients and is still highly ranked in Yahoo and MSN. I just saw an article in the Medical Quack Blog that may provide some answers (or at least raise some suspicion). It is about the business relationship between Google and LabCorp. I would not put it past LabCorp executives to ask Google to punish this website, but it is hard for me to believe that Google would actually play along with LabCorp and lower the search value of a website based on their own economic interests.

Last month several Genomics companies received warning letters from the State of California and were told they needed to be licensed.  23andMe, which is an offshoot of Google may have a potential solution on the dilemma of the licensing issue with working with LabCorp,  one of the largest labs in the US. 

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Although 23andMe is keeping mum on which contract laboratory it is using to conduct its DTC genomic testing services, GenomeWeb Daily News has learned that Laboratory Corporation of America is providing the necessary genotyping services for the personal genomics company. “I can confirm that we are doing lab work for 23andMe,” Eric Lindblom, LabCorp’s senior vice president for investor and media relations, told GWDN.

…You can also read more about the National Genetics Institute, a subsidiary of LabCorp. LabCorp already has a pretty large stake invested in the genomics business.

Lindblom also noted that LabCorp is CLIA licensed in California and New York, the two states that recently warned 23andMe, along with several other personal genomics firms, to stop marketing genetic tests directly to consumers. One of the reasons cited by regulators was that the consumer genomics firms were not licensed in these states to provide laboratory services.

I had a talk with one of the managers at a service center about the jobs that people perform at the company. Here are some interesting things that she had to say.

1) Job turnover in the Miami region is very high. The revolving door is a result of the way that they operate the company. Labcorp jobs are always availabe because so many leave the company.

2) Managers are not too familiar with who their boss is. They know the name but have never really met them or interacted with them.

3) About Bob Blanco – “Oh, he’s the guy who signs my checks. He’s the big boss. I never met him but he gives the orders to pay me.”

Q: have you ever met him?      A: No but I know him by name.

How can a service center manager not have met the district manager? I guess when you are a district manager that sits around the office, you never really know what is going on outside your little cave. Maybe they need lessons on how to be a successful executive. That “isolation from reality” seems to be a common problem in most districts.

That’s something that I admire about Bank of America. Part of the job requirement to be a banking center manager is that you have to walk around the floor during busy hours and interact with the customers and employees. Now that’s customer service. If you have a question or problem, ask the boss. Forget that executive attitude. The manager is just another person trying to provide a favorable banking experience.