To AK, I would add- did you not take the required annual training about compliance and duty to report? If you signed that statement, and then did not use any of the 5 available means to report a violation in CLIA-88, including anonymous phone tips on the CHEQline, then you are culpable and could have been held accountable. We take our responsibilities to our patients very seriously, and I was highly offended by Keillor’s remarks, slamming the entire 400,000 global employees of our company because he had a bad day at a draw station? He should try actually doing the work for a living before he insults so many people so broadly. And I personally don’t mind if the decor is dingy if that means that the company did not have to lay off it’s workers during an economy where record numbers of patients were in collections because they could not pay their lab bill due to being laid off.

Another nice little factoid about the Portland lab: From 1999 to 2002 had the Pathology TRANSCRIPTIONIST grossing in their biopsy specimens. They let that go on until corporate “caught” them in 2002 – they claimed to be running under CLIA-88 regulations, yet had a non-degreed person on the bench, grossing patient’s biopsies.

If you all have a choice, PLEASE use another lab service. Until they get caught, you never know WHO is handling your blood, tissue, or other specimens.

While I concur that aspects of lab medicine are “underfunded”, I think a major issue is the absence of consumers from the decision making process. I had a similar unpleasant phlebotomy experience at Labcorp. If that had been Burger King, I would have gone to McDonalds, if Chevy, then Ford, etc. However, my insurance company (which I don’t choose) chooses the lab company. The industry doesn’t have the market discipline that comes from consumers spending their own money (or even a voucher). In reality, there often isn’t that much value in upgrading waiting areas, or improving customer service in the collection area, since customers don’t have anywhere else to go. We don’t really discuss whether McDonalds is underfunded or overfunded.
Millions of people can decide whether a big Mac is better than a Whopper. If they had the choice, they probably would be able to choose between Labcorp and Quest too.

I am somewhat heartened by the recent flu vaccine season, where many drugstores provided flu shots for modest prices, and cash. In that case Walgreens has to provide service , or people will go to CVS.

Robert Boorstein, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology

His predilection for nanny government is delusional. Hopefully most of American Democrats will get over it after their first taste of ObamaCare.

They get increasingly unhappy when I tell them I am allergic to latex, and if they miss, and I request that a different employee try, they get really unhappy – and I often sit another 10-20 minutes until someone else appears. Therefore, I have finally found a small local lab that is happy to see me, the wait time is rarely over 5-10 minutes, and they manage to get what they need the first time.