Most practices stay with a lab long after the service stops being good, because switching sounds like a project. It is a smaller one than it looks. A clean switch comes down to nine steps, and most of them are questions you ask the new lab before your first specimen goes out.
Before you commit
- List what you order. Pull your top 20 tests by volume from the last three months. This is the list the new lab has to handle well.
- Check the menu and turnaround for those tests. Ask which are run in house and how long each takes from receipt. A lab can be fast on routine chemistry and slow on everything else.
- Confirm your EHR connection. Ask whether the lab already interfaces with your system and who does the setup. Orders and results that flow automatically save your staff hours every week.
- Ask about coverage for your payer mix. Give the lab your main payers and ask them to confirm coverage before you start, so patients do not get surprise bills.
Setting up
- Order supplies and requisitions. Collection kits, tubes, and forms should arrive before your start date, at no charge.
- Agree on a pickup schedule. Decide whether you need a daily scheduled pickup, on-call pickup, or both, and where specimens will be left.
- Train the front line. Your medical assistants and nurses need 15 minutes on the new requisition, labeling, and who to call. That short session prevents most rejected specimens.
Going live
- Pick a start date and a clean cutover. Choose a Monday. Send everything collected before that date to the old lab and everything after to the new one, so no patient’s results are split.
- Know who to call. Get a direct phone number for account questions, and confirm how critical values will reach your providers.
How TLS handles each step
| Step | At Total Lab Solutions |
|---|---|
| In-house menu | 9 panels and 60 individual blood tests, plus toxicology |
| Turnaround | Routine blood work within 24 hours; toxicology in 1 to 2 days; PCR panels within 48 hours |
| EHR | PointClickCare, athenahealth, Aprima, Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, and many others |
| Coverage | We confirm coverage for your patients before you start |
| Supplies | At your office within one business day |
| Pickup | TLS couriers, scheduled or on call, statewide |
| Critical values | Called to the ordering provider |
| Who to call | Our team in Troy at (248) 800-6626 |
We will walk through your test list with you. If you are thinking about a change, call (248) 800-6626 or open a provider account.
