09 Aug 08 LabCorp – Not the Way to Treat a Patient!
I was out of town for a few days and a little behind on reading my emails. I’d like to share one with you that was sent to me on Tuesday (Aug. 5,2008). It is from a gentleman named James, and we’ll withhold his last name.
Two weeks ago I went to LabCorp facility in Glen Burnie, MD. After signing-in one of the window attendants told me that I had an outstanding Co-pay. I informed them that I had two insurance’s CIGNA (through my employer) and BS/BS (Federal Retired) and would they please call the billing office, receptionist informed me that they couldn’t do that and that I would have to resolve the problem.When I returned home I called the LabCorp billing office and told them what happened. The billing office told me that their system didn’t allow for more then one insurance entry in their system. but that she would take care of billing the secondary insurance company and if I had any problems when I went back for my blood work to have the lab center call them.This morning (Tuesday, Aug 5, 08) I went back for my blood work and again I was told that I still had an outstanding co-pay and once again I told them to call the billing office. The receptionist told me they couldn’t do that. I told the receptionist to give me a phone and that I would call them, which I did.I talked to the billing office again and explained the problem. The billing clerk said she understood and put the receptionist on. The receptionist reluctantly took the phone wrote down something and left the area (with no feedback given to me). A short while later another lady sat down at the computer and did something, again NO feedback.After all of this 5 additional people were taken ahead of me, so I went back to the receptionist and asked what was going on. She said that I was NEXT I sat down and another two people were taken. At this point I asked to see the office manager. She came out an I asked her what was the problem with me. She told me about the billing problem. I told her I understood but that NO one gave me any feedback and that seven people have now been taken, when I was told that I was next, before the last two people were taken.I asked the manager were they punishing me for their incompetence. Once again NO response.NOTE: I am also sending this to my insurance companies.
Doesn’t LabCorp get it? You can not treat people like this in the USA. There are too many other labs available for us to have to put up with this attitude from your employees. Thanks to competition I no longer go to a LabCorp center, and refuse to have a doctor draw my blood if they are sending it to LabCorp.
Message to LabCorp: You are NOT doing anyone a favor by taking their blood and analyzing it. YOU ARE GETTING PAID FOR DOING IT!
I believe that LabCorp managers are to blame. They do not take patient treatment and care seriously. From my conversations with Robert Blanco, the incompetent manager for the Miami region, the managers look for ways to protect employee incompetence. Instead of taking complaints as constructive criticism that helps them turn the company into a better provider, they find ways to defend employee actions. That’s why James’ story is a very common occurrence at LabCorp. Sadly enough, managers perceive their role as producers of numbers for the company. Numbers as in dollars. Forget how patients are treated and if they will ever go back to LabCorp, its the quick buck that counts.
Tags: General Labcorp Stories, LabCorp Billing Stories, labcorp centers, LabCorp Complaints, LabCorp Employees, LabCorp Managers
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Lab corp is the worst run company. They loose specimans, I feel so sorry for patients. Something needs to be done with this company. Why doesn’t the news get involved or some undercover investigation.
I wanted to respond to your ordeal that led to this website. It is so horrible that you had to have poor service with LabCorp. I bet if everyone had the resources and funds and knowledge to build a website after poor customer service (even over a period of time) there would be an (insert company here)sucks.com domain for every company in every country. While I understand that you are truly dissatisfied with LabCorps service can you honestly say that this is the only service that you have used that provided you with inadequate results? We all get frustrated and want to vent but we never really stop to think the detrimental effects our temper tantrums can have on so many lives. Being dissatisfied and saying, “Ok I will never go to LabCorp again” is not enough? That is money that LabCorp will not have. Your opinion is fair and just, but to petition your ideas to insurance companies and other businesses in hopes of closing down a corporation takes food out of peoples’ mouths. Can you imagine how many are employed by Labcorp? How many families would be displaced? How many children unfed. And with the economy the way it is and there being only one major competitor how would they be able to easily find another job. Thats not your problem. If LabCorp would just do their job they wouldn’t have this problem. But unless they employed robots to run their operation any business is going to have downfalls. They are going to have some employees that are negligent, selfish, and just dont care about every patient and the quality of the service. But what about the LabCorp employees that do? What about the employees that put maximum effort into their work everyday? And what about the people’s lives that have been saved based on tests performed by LabCorp and employees that went above and beyond to get those type of results? Does LabCorp as a national company have to pay for one district? Do human beings have to pay for a group of errors? Thats like making McDonalds suffer because you had bad service in Idaho:)
Thank you for sharing your story. I dont want to discount your feelings because I know how it feels, I have experienced some horrible services, but I always try to think of the bigger picture and try not to blame everyone for a few dumb, overworked, understaffed people. Like you said, while they might not have helped you the way you wanted, most were polite and nice. So do they deserve to lose their job?
“Big Picture”:
You are a LabCorp employee so I understand your point of view. Do you know how frustrated and upset someone has to be to make the phone calls to LabCorp that I made, create a website to vent sentiments and keep a tab on it to answer comments such as yours?
After going through all the unfortunate experiences that I went through, I would have expected managers to at least apologize for the problems. Instead I was basically called a liar and challenged on every single problem that I had. Now if the problems were just “freak” occurrences, you would not have so many complaints posted on this website. It is clear that the problem is not limited to the Miami region. It is a company wide epidemic. This post is about James in Maryland. Other comments are from individuals in New Jersey, Atlanta and other regions. I receive many emails daily from frustrated patients in just about every region in the United States. Excusing these incidents by claiming that all companies have problems is unacceptable. But since you work for LabCorp, I can see why you would divert the attention to other issues, other than your own wrong doings. It’s the party line at LabCorp.
Yes, there are many nice people working for LabCorp. Thus far I have spoken to 2 of them. Maria at the Miami Civic Center location (who despite being nice, initiated my awful experiences with LabCorp) and the company’s Chief Operating Officer (who himself explained that he is somewhat new to the company and has his hands full with customer complaints. His intentions seemed good as he told me that he was working on fixing these problems but thus far he still has the same manager and patient services director in the Miami region).
“Big Picture”, you are missing the REAL big picture. Those who visit Labcorp facilities or have blood drawn at their doctor’s offices for submission to Labcorp, have health issues that are of concern to them, or are required to go there by their employer for drug screening. When it comes to people’s health, Labcorp employees need to show some compassion and understand that there is no room for incompetence. That incompetence can cause an employer to fire a good employee. Worst yet, improper test results can compromise the treatment plan that a doctor prescribes to a patient. How can you possibly defend a company that makes these mistakes and backs up employees that continue to make these mistakes? As you said, the country’s economic situation is tough. That means that there are many good people looking for jobs. LabCorp should fire their lousy managers and incompetent employees, and hire some of these good people that have respect for patients. Don’t deflect what you are doing to patients at LabCorp with social and economic problems that are unrelated.
My personal experiences showed me that Labcorp has managers that are incompetent and lazy. Starting with the Miami region manager Bob Blanco, whose answer to every patient complaint is “I will investigate it” and never calls back or does a thing about it. Not only that but he actually defends the wrongdoings of employees because in his own words “My employees have no reason to lie to me.” In other words, YOU PATIENTS ARE THE LIARS. Then you have Ana, the Patient Services Director in the same region who has no clue about what “service” means and instead of accepting complaints as a way to improve the company and provide better services to patients, she rejects them and unsults the complaining patients in order to protect the status quo. Her call to me was so insulting and she was so incompetent that I thought that maybe it was the person I was complaining about who was calling me to cover up her wrong doings. I even called Manager Blanco who confirmed that she really was the Patient Services Director. Of course he stood up for her and once again called me a liar after I informed him of the short conversation I had with her. These are just two employees that should not be working for LabCorp but are. Why has LabCorp not fired these two incompetent employees? I can continue about the others but the other posts and comments in LabCorpSucks.com tell a better story.
When I see that these two Miami employees are fired and that the company properly trains employees to treat patients with the compassion and courtesy that they deserve, I will consider taking down this website.
Until then, I will continue to post on this web site. I will continue to talk to as many doctors as possible so that they do not refer patients to LabCorp. I will continue to convince as many insurance companies and HMO’s as possible to drop LabCorp. And I will continue to send all the LabCorp complaints that I receive through posts or emails to state and federal regulatory and investigatory agencies.
I don’t care how much LabCorp pays lobbyists or contributes to political campaigns to cover up their wrongdoings, eventually LabCorp and their top brass will have to face the consequences of their past and present actions. From the complaints that I have received from patients as well as current and former employees, I predict that LabCorp and those high level employees will have to answer in both the civil and criminal venue.
I was just reviewing my medical bills vs insurance claims and realized that I was billed ~$100 in tests for a routine gyno exam. It is not even like they had to test me for every std in the book since I’ve been with only 1 partner for many years. How can they charge soooo much? It seems totally inappropriate and a total scam. When I came on line to research if others have had issues, it is clear that they donimate the web and information that is published about them. I called hte insurance company to complain about the amount charged and they don’t care. From now on, I’m going to see if they can send to a different lab. Labcorp does SUCK. Thanks for providing an outlet.
It was over $1000 – not $100 – that would have been too good and I’d not be here.
I am sending this is response to many, many comments made to me and my spouse in reference to Labcorp. My spouse is an ex-employee of the company. The reasons for leaving are many, but the main problem was executive management and their disregard for employees. When you hire sales persons to manage medical/technical persons what do you expect!! When your direct supervisor is a sales person with no phlebotomy experience or lab/testing skills how can one expect a good outcome!! The complaints that would come in to my spouse about difficulty with supplies and short staffing was non stop.I ask anyone, how can you be expected to do your job without the tools/supplies to do them. The situation is now worse than ever for these phlebotomists. This company says it is customer driven, but I know this is not the case. Remember, your employees are your internal customers!! When you have satisfied employees, you will have satisfied customers!! I am very aware that people are leaving the company for the simple reason of having no employee support.Without persons to draw blood, what type of lab will you have?? Will the sales supervisors be able to step up and do the job?? I wouldn’t want an unskilled person coming at me with a needle!!! I am also in the medical field. I will not send my patients to Labcorp for the very reason that the wait time is lengthy,tests results are difficult to track, and slow response time. My suggestion to all these employees currently employed by Labcorp—CALL THE UNION—. Sincerely, Hot in Phoenix
I just ordered a stat stool specimen pickup at a nursing home in LeRoy,IL,and the women at the Columbus Lab hung up on me.
Well, alot of patients come into Lab Corp, Quest, Verizon, local hospital, even their Dr.’s office and don’t have a clue what their plan, medical or anything else covers. Ask the next 5 people you see and ask them how much their cell phone coverage costs them or what plan they have with their car insurance. I’ll bet they can’t answer. They come into the office and first they forgot their paperwork for their lab work. Are we mind readers? Do we know what the Dr. ordered? So now we have to stop what we are doing, which is usually being eyeballed by the 30 patients that just walked in when the door was opened, and explain that it is 6:30 am and the office is not opened and we cannot draw your blood until we know what needs to be drawn. Well you can guess how that went over. Shall we say Lead Balloon!!!! Then the barating starts in on why can’t you just draw it and call later? I have to get to work! I took the morning off and I can’t wait to call the Dr.! Who is your supervisor I want that number! And thats just the second patient through the door that we have called up.
Ok now for ther other 30 that are still sitting out there, more that don’t have paperwork, insurance cards, are not fasting when it is clearly marked on the script to FAST! so when we explain that they should have fasted and didn’t, that if we do it the results will not be accurate, but still they want the blood drawn. Then when the Dr. gets the results and they read Patient not fasting and he wants it done again to get the correct results. So patient Goofball comes back in, this time fasting, and wants us to hurry and get them done because they are Hungry. Oh and by the way I should not be charged for the last tests they were the wrong results. All this and we have only been open for 30 minutes. You come sit in my seat for 1 week and see if you can do any better. GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK. How many of you have any first hand experience at this??? I’d venture a guess 1 maybe 2. If you don’t keep your mouth shut until you do. And remember if you work in public service and you have had someone like you came in and give you a hard time, put yourself in that persons shoes and remember how you felt while you sat there being yelled at for something beyound your control.
For the poster “Big Picture:” Get real! I,too, am a LCA employee and your line of tripe is exactly that, tripe. The people who work here, that GENUINELY care, can’t open their mouths or even suggest positive changes because the moment that you open your mouth, you put a big huge target on your back, and you are scheduled for termination at the earliest convenient date. yes, i know that was a run-on sentence, but i get so sick of people like you trying to pretend that there are legitimate excuses for the way that LCA treats its employees, clients and patients. THERE ARE NO LEGITIMATE EXCUSE, PERIOD, END OF STORY!!!!!
Just me Very very very good , you hit the nail on the head with your comments. No one wants to do this job , the danger of getting sick from some patient is high , even if you use PPE they breath or cough in you face. So esposure is high.
i work in a high volume psc my experience is the patients are downright rude everyone wants to be waited on at the same time i observed them running in to sign in first pushing other patients ahead of them these patients who complain so much know deep in their heart they are rude their attitude is mememe only me no one else matters isnt that reflective of the mindset of our country today. i had a patient come in today and ask me when i took her back for her blood draw what were the test for her doctor had ordered i informed her she should get this information from her physician before leaving his office she then told me he didnt take the time to explain to her why he was ordering the LABS .wow and we get the attitude for not being able to tell them just what their physicians may be ordering these labs for and then the ones who walk in with every seat in the waiting area occupied and a staff of 1 to 3 techs at the most at any giving time that the center is open the first question is “what is the wait time”. i consider that so inconsiderate to the patients already waiting and the staff. my suggestion is be observant if it looks like the staff is busting to get you in and out: working with limited staffing be patient if you observe lackadasical staff get their name and report to corporate headquarters, otherwise please be patient and considerate to an overworked shortage of staff.
Hello all,
I am a phlebotomist and I love my job. I currently work for Labcorp, and it is unbelievable after reading all the comments that people feel this way about my company.
I would like to go into some detail about something’s that some people are not aware of:
A: we are the middle personal between a patient and the Doctor.
B: we have employee policies that govern what we can do or say concerning a patient and there health.
C: Phlebotomist are not Doctors or nurses, we are technical personal, which went to school to learn a technical trade in venipucture, and specimen processing.
D: Labcorp pride themselves on continued education concerning subjects like, patient service, award winning attitude, time management, etc.
Summery:
We all are human and we make mistake, We all have personel issue that we don’t want to bring to work, we all have been under a bad supervisor, we all want to perform our job duties at peak performance, at all times, but sometimes we fail, we all have communicated with someone and one party or both party misunderstood.
Laboratory Corporation Of America Employee Me would like to extend an apology for all bad experiences and would want you to know that we are Dedicated and Committed to Serving You.
Thank You for your continued support.
Lca
GOOD TO BE CONNECTED TO SOMETHING GREAT!!
LabCorp doesn’t hire enough lab techs, so its Patient “Service” Centers are routinely understaffed, and frequently closed due to lack of staff, even when the PSC is scheduled to be open.
They don’t update their voicemail to let people calling them know when the PSC will actually be open for patients to have tests.
I’m fortunate to have the type of medical insurance that lets me use any lab, so I will NEVER use LabCorp again!
I so agree with the comment that Labcorp sucks! I have recently had a liver transplant, so I need my blood work done regularly. I was going to Quest Lab which was always excellent!
However, my health care provider switched to Labcorp. What a mistake, that I am helpless to do anything about.
The first few times I went to get bloodwork they had a single employee doing everything in a very busy office (and she was not all that competent). I waited an average of 1 1/2 to 2 hrs each visit. I’m on a rejection med that we need to measure at 12 hour intervals so timing is a bit critical. I decided to try another office and patients were sitting on the floor in the waiting room. 2 hours later they told me that my standing order had expired and to come back another day with a new order.
I came back, waited again, got the blood drawn.
When my liver clinic visit approached the office called and said they had no blood work. It had been drawn 2 weeks prior. Upon investigation there was no evidence of me being there except the sign in sheet on that day.
Now, I really needed my blood work to make sure I was still on track, so they agreed to do it again stat. (The technician told me in confidence, that she thinks my last blood and order wound up in the trash by someone covering up an error.) When I went to clinic my doctor told me the Labcorp had called and said they “mixed” my blood with another patient’s. So, I had to do it yet again. I am a “hard stick” and was not happy.
End of story. The FOURTH time I went to finally get a reading, I switched to yet another location. I didn’t have to wait long, and the results came through. But, I just received a bill for one of the visits that produced no results, so I had to work that out.
My doctor said I needed to lean on my health care provider and see if they want to pay for my blood work at a reputable provider or pay for another transpalnt!
I agree that labcorp sucks they were so mean to my 4 yr old daughter. She went to have basic labs done. When we got there the tech was on the phone never said anything she just stuck her hand out for the paperwork and insurance card. She (Michelle at the whittier california office) told the person on the other end of the phone I will call you back I have to draw someone, lick we were bothering her and that was not her job. She had me sit my daughter in the chair, well my daughter started crying cause she was scared she procedded to say that my daughter needed to sit still because she needed to go. She was so rude she put the band on the top of her arms. She couldnt find her veins she left the needle in her arm and kept moving it around to find the vein she then went to the other arm and did the same thing she told my daughter to sit still or she would have to start over stop moving she was really hurting her. My daughters arms are so black and blue from michelle. I dont know how this woman does this for a living. We tried to take her urine sample back the next day and they were closed but no note on the door we tried 2 other times and the office was closed as well even though we went during business hours. I really dont know how they stay open for business with people like michelle working for them. Unfortunatlly I have united health as well and can not go to a different lab. They really need to do something to change the service people are getting. Thank You for listening.
I agree that labcorp sucks they were so mean to my 4 yr old daughter. She went to have basic labs done. When we got there the tech was on the phone never said anything she just stuck her hand out for the paperwork and insurance card. She (Michelle at the whittier california office) told the person on the other end of the phone I will call you back I have to draw someone, lick we were bothering her and that was not her job. She had me sit my daughter in the chair, well my daughter started crying cause she was scared she procedded to say that my daughter needed to sit still because she needed to go. She was so rude she put the band on the top of her arms. She couldnt find her veins she left the needle in her arm and kept moving it around to find the vein she then went to the other arm and did the same thing she told my daughter to sit still or she would have to start over stop moving she was really hurting her. My daughters arms are so black and blue from michelle. I dont know how this woman does this for a living. We tried to take her urine sample back the next day and they were closed but no note on the door we tried 2 other times and the office was closed as well even though we went during business hours. I really dont know how they stay open for business with people like michelle working for them. Unfortunatlly I have united health as well and can not go to a different lab. They really need to do something to change the service people are getting. Thank You for listening.
“THEY WERE SO MEAN” I don’t work for LapCorbs, wish they would give me a discount on my bill,for typing this.
“They” as in all of LabCorp or “They” as in ONE person who tried to draw blood from your daughter who happens to work for LabCorp?
Interesting thing you said, but you see, this is a problem everywhere not just with labcorp. We only see your side, the one you tell here. The kid could have been wiggling squirming taking her hand to try and stop the phlebotomist, she could have been moving her whole body in protest as well, maybe not! This may be a great phlbotomist, who just couldnt get her vein, someone else might come right behind her and get the stick, as well as SHE may go right behind someone who missed the stick and get it.
As a mom and a nurse, I understand both sides. When the labtech said she would call the party back, was that the right thing to do, or did you want her to continue TALKING. Also was her call she was in, information she needed, a sick kid at school, day care calling to tell her something important. A dentist office offering to work her in for a severe toothache? Maybe that all seemed rude to you, but she might have been a great person, in an unknown situation.
Anyway, you had a bad perception of what may have been an innocent situation. Unfortunate, as none of us want to see our children or anyone else hurt. Do you think she HURT your child on purpose? A note to you, if she did withdraw the needle out of her arm before re-advancing as veins can roll and squirmy child doens’t help, then it would have hurt twice as much.
Lesie and the GYN exam. Did labcorp do your GYN exam? Another laugh. Routine annual exam usually = pap smear. That is a LAB test, and YOUR DOCTOR MUST ORDER ALL LAB TEST THAT ARE DONE. Did he think your husband was unfaithful from a slimmy yellow,green or smelly vaginal discharge? If he considered that he would have order some additional test like Chalmidia/GC culture as well, reguardless of your proclaimation of his FAITHFULNESS. I hate the high cost of medical test. I just had 1600 dollars worth done, thank God for insurance that paid all but around 200. Only thing that really BOTHERS me, is discounted price my statement shows to the insurance company……..wayyy wayyyy below what I WOULD have to pay privately. Without insurance, I couldnt afford those test. That is my only complaint with LABCORP, why discount to the insurance company, why not a discount to the uninsured? Otherwise, I have no complaints with LabCorp.
i’m 8 months pregnant i went to one of the labcorps location located in jackson heights queens and i went there to get bloodwork done and also the sugar test they give when women are pregnant and when i arrived there one of the staff told me to sign in and have a seat so i told her if i could have the sugar done the same day since i fasted so she said no i said ok give me an appointment for the next day… i really don’t know what got into this lady and she started having attitude towards me i said ok let me put her in place i told her she was being rude. she called me retarted and that she was going to kick my ass i said what and i cursed her out too. she told me to sit my white ass down i told her you black bitch this and that and she wind up being humilated by me and my husband… to make this story short i report her ass to the supervisor in charge of that unit. she claimed that the supervisor there was her mom so that i couldn’t make a complaint against her but i did anyways and i hope they fire her uggly disgusting getto ass…. i hate the fact that she didn’t consider that i’m pregnant but i would love for that 600 pound bitch to lay her hands on me not only she would’ve go to jail but she was gonna get the illest beat in her miserable life and a lawsuit that would’ve made a couple of thousand dollars… beware of this labcorp clinic in jackson heights queens they are not professional and they have junkie high school droup outs for workers not only that… they hire people with certificate programs like the scumbag prick who took care of me that day.. i hope she fucking dies…nasty ass bitch.. oh by the way her name is patricia and her supervisor name is donna….
i recently had a bad experience with a labcorp employee at the jackson heights location located in queens ny.. not only was i descriminated by being pregnant but also i was descriminated by my skin color.. to make this story short i went to this location by accident and believe me it was a day of hell. firts of all they told me that the location in woodside queens was closed due to repairs. ok so i went there and i ask the animal because i can’t call that ladie a human being i asked her politely if i could make an appointment to see them the next day due to the fact that i was going to have my blood drawn that day and then the next day was the sugar test they do for pregnant women when they are 8 months pregnant. ok not only she had nasty attitude but after she snatched the paper she said she was going to fuck me up. i off course cursed and embarrased the shit out of her. so we both cursed each other from left to right. at the end she said i see you outside i said i see you in and out bich cuz you obviously talking shit behind the counter i was already heated about to jump her my husband came and ask me to leave the premises… i’m mad at the fact that labcorp doens’t do background check on their employees and that’s a shame. she told me to sit my white ass down i called her a dumb bitch because i’m not white i’m latina i told her to go fuck herself fucking low life pice of shit. she is getto and non educated and all of that because i asked her to make me an appointment but i would love for her to hit me cuz not only she would’ve got arrested but i was ready to put the beats on her so that she treats people with respect. but i’m glad a cursed her out to the point she couldn’t say nothing. and then this prick had the audacity to say her mother is the supervisor and when i told her i was going to call the cops she even said oh i give you my cellphone.. i hope that bitch gets fired. her name is patricia and she wears eyeglasses from the 80′s so if you encounter this demon by any chance curse her out to and she will be crying like a bitch she is…. by the way i contacted dona the supervisor of that unit which happens to be african american to i told her about the situation and i made a complaint against that byatch and i hope they listen to me because i contacted my lawyer already and labcorp should be hearing from me soon.
i recently had a bad experienced with one of the labcorp staff. the ladie was rude and nasty towards me and i’m 8 months pregnant. she cursed me out and made me feel like i was there to get services for free. but i did cursed and embarrassed her too. to the point that she had to stay quiet.. this ladie works at the jackson heights location in queens ny. her name is patricia and her mother works there as a supervisor for that location. it’s a shame that they have junkie people with no class and education working for them. i believe this ladie doesn’t even have a high school diploma and the reason she works there is because her mother hooked her up in that job.. she was loud, nasty and guetto… she said if she wouldn’t be working she would had kicked my ass i told her that she was just talking shit behind the counter… i would’ve wish for her to do something so that she will get not only the illest beat from me and my husband but also a lawsuit against labcorp.
Yes, I found out the hard way of what a piece of crap Labcrap is! Without any notifications, I find I have a $6 balance on my bill and they (Labcrap) decided to force you to give them your credit card number so they my charge your card (in perpetuity, or until the card expires, however I totally believe this organizations would still attempt to charge your expired card in a New York minute) once your insurance company has paid their portion or, since Labcrap now has your card number, they can charge you at any time they feel appropriate, without your knowledge.
I found this totally assinine for refusal of service for a $6 balance when they make hundreds off my blood draws each and every month. They wouldn’t take cash…they wanted that credit card. Well, when they USED to work for me. They can rot in hell now. There are many other fine and reputable organizations I can now deal with!
Pissed- as an employee let me tell you, none of us like this credit card capture deal. you dont realize our bosses WILL write us up for not collecting on it. and we WILL lose our jobs. This is part of the pressure we face on our daily jobs at labcorp. we get shit on by patients and by our lovely management. To all who have complained about our rudeness-let me say- how would you all feel at 7am not being fully awake, having a line of 20 people waiting for you,all want to be first. Then totaling the daily count at 70 people seen between 2 patient service technicians and one computer and one draw room? that is what i deal with daily. it ain’t easy. especially when everybody has to be first, you are constantly asked “how long is the wait?”, you are trying to deal with problems on an order, on the phone between a dr office and costumer service just for one problem patient, and the whole time you have people just staring at you paper in hand, ignoring the fact I AM BUSY WITH ANOTHER PATIENT!! hello?? and that isn’t rude?? if you see i am busy, just take a damn seat, and when i am done, approach me!! AND how about NOT shoving your paper in my face OR just throwing it on my desk when you sign in??? And people don’t see where our pressure builds?? and how we are not always so happy smiley like a WalMart greeter???
we deal with rude and nasty people everyday. Toppled with our management constantly down our throats with threats, and changes, and god forbid if they throw something new at us, and we don’t get it right on the first try!! OH and how about the fact that we are severely under staffed at all our locations in our division?? to the point that our supervisor is more of a patient service technician than a supervisor?? she can’t get her meetings in, she can’t do her trainings, she is pulled in 50 different directions, and is limited in her abilities! not her fault her bosses wont get us help!
From another employee…. you have just described my everyday at my psc. And to make things worse… every once in while they say, “by the way, you’ll be working alone today.” I ask if i can go manual for the day since we see about 80 people and the answer is NO. We have to catch those unpaid balances. All I ask is for people to be a little more patient and curtious. At times I am by myself and having to draw screaming kids while people are standing at the desk saying, “hello is anyone here?” is rude. There are some and I mean very few that are nice but most of the time everyone asks how long the wait is. We dont know. Seriously. I once had two people in the room and i said about five or ten minutes. My next draw had about 20 crazy tests and then was a hard stick and to top it off she fainted. By the time i was done 45 minutes had passed and i had a room full of angry people. Please people when you go into one of our sites be a little nicer. We dont set the rules. We hate credit card capture. We hate a lot of what goes on. But we need to follow rules to keep our jobs and i am not going to lose my paycheck for your 5 dollar balance.
This is in response to the 9 AUG 2008 post-”LabCorp-No Way To Treat A Patient” incident at the LabCorp facility in Glen Burnie, MD., written by the original poster “James.”
Ok James, you’ve made your point, but just like every story, there are TWO sides, right?
I have already addressed this same matter that you encountered at LabCorp with another person on this message board, i.e. regarding an outstanding balance due before service can be rendered for your blood tests, and you being informed by the LabCorp Patient Service Center phlebotomy staff that upon them inputting your order into the computer, it showed that you needed to pay your previous bill, etc. Now, with that said, let me tell you this, and you (along with everyone else like you that has had this encounter at LabCorp, LISTEN UP AND TAKE NOTES). First, keep in mind that at any LabCorp lab, EVERYONE who works in any of these company owned and operated labs is a licensed phlebotomist, NOT A COMPANY MANAGER, NOT A BILLING REPRESENTATIVE, ETC. They are phlebotomy personnel that are required to comply with any policy that the company (LabCorp) puts in place. You did a good job of describing the encounter in detail about what happened. When the phlebotomy staff inputs your doctor’s order into the computer system, IF there is any outstanding balance that YOU owe from any of your previous visits to LabCorp, a screen automatically pops up and let’s the phlebotomist ordering your tests know that that outstanding balance MUST be collected on BEFORE they may proceed to order your tests on the computer, draw your blood, and send it in for testing. IN FACT, LabCorp has designed their computer system so that it LOCKS on the “Outstanding Balance Screen” which MUST be settled by payment over the counter, and if payment is not made via that LOCKED screen that acts as the payment platform itself, it WILL NOT allow the phlebotomist to continue inputting your order. GOT IT?? LabCorp phlebotomy staff, via LabCorp Management, has been instructed NOT to call the billing office to discuss this matter regardless of the patient’s reason of contention of the balance due, and that payment must be made. The patient is allowed to contact the billing office ONLY, NOT THE PHLEBOTOMY STAFF, and the reason why is that if the phlebotomy staff gets on the phone to call the billing office, then other patients waiting for service can not be seen in a timely manner, and also, the details of this needs to be by direct interaction between the patient and LabCorp’s billing office so that it is first hand information being given to the patient, or so that the billing office may receive additional information directly from the patient which may be needed to resolve the previous bill. When you needed to do, and what the LabCorp phlebotomy staff should have informed you of, is that the company procedure is for you to either clear the bill with payment over the counter via credit card or check, so that the LOCKED screen may be cleared, and your order completed, so that they phlebotomist could proceed to draw your blood. None of this is convenient or easy, however it would have prevented you all the aggravation of what you described of sitting and waiting, sitting and waiting, sitting and waiting, and being ignored. On this last point, you need to realize that the phlebotomist at these labs have scores of tasks to perform in a limited amount of time, including processing of specimens in a timely manner in the back area of the lab, so they are continuously on the move for the sake of everyone who is there waiting for service, and a host of other tasks that need to be handled. You on the other hand, assume that YOU are the only one present in the office that needs service, and that the staff should be focusing on YOU ALONE, whic is very selfish and self-centered of you. If you had of paid your outstanding balance to LabCorp BEFORE you got to the Lab that day on Aug 9, 2008, you would have not run into this problem, so it is actually YOU who is responsible for what happened that day, because as in all situation in the general public in America, ALL COMPANIES HAVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURE REQUIREMENTS, and LabCor is no exception. You ran into a “company policy” barrier that momentarily prevented you from getting your blood drawn and it represented an inconvenience to you, but again, it is YOU who should have paid your bill, either when you first received it from LabCorp in the Mail, which obviously you ignored and didn’t bother to call the number on the bill to ask what is was about, and then you got confronted with this same bill at your time of service that day at Labcorp. So, again, and again, IT IS YOU who is responsible for and the cause of what happened that day, NOT THE PHLEBOTOMY STAFF AT LABCORP, NOT LABCORP MANAGEMENT, ETC. It almost sounds like you think that you didn’t need to pay your bill, or make the necessary arangements with LabCorp (i.e. updated insurance information, etc,) to see to it that they got paid for services that they had already provided you with, unless of course you think that a company like LabCorp should provide you with FREE service. What is see in all of this is that YOU had an opportunity to handle this matter long before you got to LabCorp that day, due to the fact that I’m aware of when a screen pops up like that and it shows an outstanding balance due to LabCorp and the phlebotomy staff has to confront you with this, it means that THE OUTSTANDING BILL THAT YOU OWED FROM YOUR PRIOR VISIT IS ALREADY IN COLLECTIONS AT LABCORP AND IS ALMOST READY TO BE FORWARD TO A COLLECTION AGENCY, AND AT LEAST TWO NOTICES HAVE BEEN SENT TO YOU BY MAIL TO INFORM YOU OF IT. You got the bil, you even read the bill, but you didn’t bother to call about the bill thinking that it was not important, or thinking that the service you had should have been FREE. So, James, YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF FOR NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MONEY YOU OWED LABCORP BEFORE YOU GOT TO THE LAB THAT DAY on August 9, 2008. GOT IT? Obviously you didn’t get it, by reason of your irresponsible post regarding this matter, which further shows how irresponsible and self-centered you are.
this is to the patient jessica caban
only thing ghetto is your post. lying will get you no where. if any employee told you her mother was the supervisor then you a damn fool for believing it. I know Patricia and she’s far from ugly and 600lbs? sounds like your jealous. Maybe your husband was making passes at her and your ugly pregnant ass couldn’t deal with it. and for the record she’s half white so your so far gone with your lies. Please keep it real. And i highly doubt that you were going to be beating down anything. Maybe your face was going to beat the floor after she knocked your dumb ghetto wanna be ass out. and you and your husband can call a thousand lawyers get off the system and get a real job bitch. Here’s one better if you were treated so badly what the hell did you stick around for. didn’t you get your appointment? by the way hows the ugly retard baby? you should of missed carried with your lying ass and stinking ass yeah bitch i smelled you. not a good look crack ho. tell your husband to get a life cause being married to you is not one! Bitchhhhhh also I’ve met Donna a wonderful african american women with class you really wanted to say nigga you fucking wetback! go back to your latin country and drown