I have received 3 similar emails from 3 different patients, and that’s just in the past 3 days. What does it mean? That Labcorp has a serious billing problem. I experienced a similar situation a few of months ago with LabCorp. It was a bill for services that were provided a few months before that. I am fortunate enough to have a great insurance policy. If I go to the preferred providers, and LabCorp is one of them, I only have to pay a small co-payment. I received a past due notice from LabCorp in what appeared to be a notice from a collection agency. After closer observation it was clear that it was not a collection agency but rather LCA collections, Laboratory Corporation of America Collections. The amount was small but still more than the required co-payment. I wondered why I would receive a past due notice without first getting the original bill? It’s LabCorp, that’s why.

Called their 1-800 billing department number to inquire on how they arrived at the amount they want me to pay. A very nice lady answered and confirmed the amount. I explained that based on my insurance, the amount is incorrect. She continued to explain that what I owe is the amount that the insurance company did not pay. It seemed that she was reading a script as she was unable to answer questions I had regarding the discrepancy between their charges and what the insurance company allows them to charge as a preferred provider. When the script could not be followed, she politely responded with “You need to call your insurance company about that.” I was not getting anywhere with her in regards to resolving this matter so I just stopped and asked “Can you please just tell me how you arrived at the $39? That seemed to stop her for a few seconds of silence. In the same kind voice as before she responded, “That’s what your insurance company told us to bill you.” It was clear she had no clue as to why it was $39 and not $10, and she was making up whatever was not in her script. With that I thanked her and hung up the phone.

Well…back to the email I received from RJ. Read it below.

I just got off the phone from my THIRD call to Lab Corp billing for incorrect billing to my insurance carriers, thereby them sending me the outstanding bill to pay.

EACH TIME I go get blood drawn, the attendant REQUIRES copies of the insurance cards. So I know that they always have the correct cards. EACH time, I receive an incorrect bill. I have even written to them in October with my last check I sent them, and asked to correct the error and issue me a refund. The note was ignored, and no check was returned to me. I have waited to talk to a billing person 20 minutes before I can talk to someone. Then they ” apologize “for human error. I asked how this can be corrected in the future. All I get is an apology.

Today when I called, the lady would not let me talk to a supervisor or give me a name to write to LabCorp. She basically said since she is taking care of my problems that I do not need to talk to anyone at a higher level. All she kept repeating is that it is human error. The waits for lab drawers are getting longer, and I expect an incorrect bill each time I go to get lab drawn. Can I assume therefore, that the lab results are not right either if there is this much inaccuracy every other place in Lab Corp? I am going to fax a copy of this letter to LabCorp, also to an “unknown” named supervisor to see if I can get someone at a higher level to correct these decifiencies.

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of emails about abused patients. I’ll be posting some of the more interesting ones. This one sums up the treatment that one can expect from a LabCorp service center. My recommendation, go somewhere else. Boycott LabCorp and let your doctor know that your health is too important to be left to the lowest bidder.

Hello, 

    I am a 54 year old woman who had to get my cholesterol blood screening done today at LabCorp (which by the way is the only lab that my insurance covers).

 

The local office opens at 7:30 AM…i was first in line outside a locked door saying that this office opened at 7:30…two employees (female) ..opened the door and myself and at least 10 others entered a “small” waiting room…i put my name down on the sign in board and gave them my card…wellllll the “girl” at the front desk proceeded calling others before me….i said “excuse me but i signed in first…, the “worker” said “Dont you argue with me…..you didn’t sign it….i said i did..she said “Quit fighting with me”….i was shocked and humiliated…they had put another sign in sheet over the original one i had signed in on…when i showed them this they told me to go “sit down” …i then got called and of course i got the lab tech (very unprofessional) who jabbed my arm….couldn’t get the blood to start flowing then jabbed in deeper and wiggled it!!! I said “stop you are hurting me!!” she told me to “lay my arm down flat”……and then she snapped the band off….i now have a sore arm and a bruise….the first i have ever had….i HATE going to this place…when i got back to work…i called the office and asked for the name of the girl who had been so rude to me….she hung up on me…i called back..and the other girl said  that i had “jumped line” i said WHHHATTT??…I DO NOT “JUMP” LINE… I AM A 54 YEAR OLD PROFESSIONAL WOMAN AND BY THE WAY I WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY…I DO NOT JUMP LINE”….she finally and reluctantly gave me the name of their supervisor…which i intend to talk to… I find it very hard to believe that this place stays open…first of all they herd you outside like your standing in line for drugs or something…then the pure rudeness of  their employees astounds me…..they are dangerous….and I will NEVER  GO BACK….there is no excuse for the substandard care and the poor and malicious attitudes of their employees…..please let me know what i can do or who i can talk to ..i want to make sure the right person hears of my experience…..i do intend telling my health care provider and my doctor about this…..

 

Thanks,

NAME WITHHELD

I received an email this weekend from another frustrated patient. What a shame that they are violating Federal disclosure laws and laughing about it.

Well, here is my lab corp story:

I am now about 7 months pregnant, but began going to Lab Corp in the beginning for routine blood tests. They were always unfriendly, but I just let it go. The first thing that really bothered me about them was when my husband had to get blood drawn to make sure he was rh negative so that I wouldn’t need a shot to protect me if my baby had a chance of having positive blood. Well when it came time for my doctor to give me the shot (at 28 weeks into my pregnancy) they still had not received the results from his blood work, which was done 3 months earlier. To top that off I had paid for his testing (around $250) because he does not have health insurance. So I ended up getting the shot anyways (in the butt, and obviously uncomfortable enough that I was willing to pay $250 to avoid it). I still think someone should be liable for the money I wasted on a test that couldn’t get the results back in time. 3 months seems sufficient time to me. I am willing to overlook the fact that I had to get an unnecessary shot because lab corp cant figure it out. After all this, I still had to go to lab corp about a week ago for a gestational diabetes test. I had to fast the night before. The morning I went to go get the test, I had an argument with my husband and being as I was 7 months pregnant, I was pretty upset about it. So I went into lab corp and signed in. I had changed my name to my husband’s last name between this visit and my last. Mind you I have been married for 2 years, but I had put off changing my name and with the baby on the way, I figured it was a good time. So when they didn’t have a record of my new name (which was now on my health insurance card), instead of asking they just had me fill out a new patient sheet. Then when I turned that in (I figured if they didn’t ask I might as well just fill it out) I went and sat back down in the crowded waiting room and prepared to be there for an hour while the drink they gave me hit my blood. When I sat down I overheard them talking about how they finally figured out I had been there before, but my name was different. A male staff member said “Oh, she has been here. Her name is different. She must have gotten married.” and then the female staff member said “oh, well she is pregnant so you know how that goes.” and then they started laughing. At my expense. I wanted to go up there and inform them that I had been married for 2 years, was 25 years old, graduated college, and that my personal life was none of their business, but I was so emotional from the whole day I knew I would just start crying. So I sat there. For a whole hour. And they continued to have personal conversations right there where everyone could hear. I just cant believe that people can be that rude. I don’t know if they think being behind the check in window shields them from the patients, but I was about 10 chairs away and could clearly hear them talking about me. Even if I had gotten married because I got pregnant, it is not their business to be talking about at a place of business. I would love to do something about this, as it is still bothering me. Do you have an address where I can send a letter?

Here’s the address to send in your complaint. Don Hardison is the company’s Chief Operating Officer and he seems to be the only one that cares about straightening out the company. Not that he will do anything, but at least he will make you feel like he will. 

Laboratory Corporation of America
Don Hardison, COO
430 South Spring Street
Burlington, NC 27215

This is a recent article about LabCorp and their practices. The United States Food and Drug Administration believes that LabCorp’s testing “…may harm the public health.” Shame on you LabCorp for putting money before patient’s health.

The US Food and Drug Administration is looking more closely at an ovarian cancer test from Laboratory Corporation of America after deciding that the existing data did not support the test’s commercial use.

 

The FDA Office of In Vitro Device Evaluation and Safety has asked Labcorp to discuss with the agency the utility of its OvaSure Yale test, after it learned that the performance characteristics of the test were based on research that is not representative of the intended pool of patients.

 

In a letter to Labcorp dated August 7, OIVD Director Steve Gutman wrote that the scientific community would not view the study as sufficient to establish performance characteristics for high-risk women who may have ovarian cancer.

 

“Based on our review of your promotional materials and the research,” Gutman wrote, “… we believe you are offering a high risk test that has not received adequate clinical validation, and may harm the public health.” Gutman told Labcorp that OIVD would like to talk to the company about offering the test, and any other strategies the company may have for validating the test.

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 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. 

I’ve received dozens of emails related to problems and complaints against LabCorp. From those who have filed lawsuits against them to physicians that are fed up with service related issues. I will respond to them all this week. Since this is something that I do on the side because of the poor attitude of LabCorp company manager and executives, I can only do it during down time. Sorry about that.

The retail business has many dynamics. It’s a business that I know well. Relating these principles to LabCorp’s operation, it is hard to believe that there are so many patients that will never set foot in a LabCorp center again. Yet the company and its executives do not seem to be doing anything about it. It’s a real shame how a company can believe that they are so omnipotent that they can do whatever they want. Our country’s laws and regulations are established for these particular instances. They will eventually catch up to LabCorp. The government agencies will move in and that’s when you will see them change.

I also believe that the tough economy will severely affect LabCorp and their view of the customer. In my opinion, they see the customer as the HMO, insurance company or 3rd party payer. The patient is seen as a secondary factor when in fact it is all about the patient. Poor results or worst yet, no results, will not only anger the patients but also the payer as the patient will start complaining. Why do these managers and executives not see this? Oh well, they will when the 3rd party payers start cancelling contracts because of malpractice lawsuits. And the doctors that send them the specimens for results? They will eventually get tired of poor results that affect the lives of their patients. I believe that doctors generally care more about their patients than the lower prices offered by LabCorp. That will also work against LabCorp. When will this company wake up to reality?