Quote:
Originally Posted by blueash
Please contact the lab and directly ask
"what volume of urine and blood did you need to be able to complete the order? What volume of urine and blood did you receive?" What specific tests were ordered? Was it a panel where all the tests were done on a single pass thru an instrument, or was each test to be done separately on part of your sample.. if so did they complete any of the tested drugs?
You know about how much urine you provided. Quest can do a fairly complete screening on one ounce of urine, that's 2 tablespoons. It is the responsibility of the doctor's office to be sure that they know the required sample size and type for the test being ordered. If you don't know, pick up the phone and call the lab and ask. "We need to test for drugs of abuse, your panel A-1234, what do you need to run that test"
You also know how much blood they collected. You may or may not have noticed what color stopper the blood tube had. The receiving lab should be able to tell you whether the problem was not receiving the blood in the correct tube, or they received the correct type tube but a too small sample.
You can get a copy of what tests were ordered, if you don't already have that information. If you have a suspicion about a particular drug having been given to you, google to find out whether hair testing for a single exposure is a useful test.
My past experience, not with Alliance labs, was that QNS [quantity not sufficient] was reported immediately, not listed as pending unless that lab did not even look at your sample for several days and pending was used to mean the test has been ordered and we've done nothing. Hopefully the receiving lab would check the sample received against the test ordered immediately when the sample reached the lab even if the test itself was not to be run for a day or two? No idea how often they run drug screen testing in a non emergency situation.
And no, alcohol does not make it difficult to draw blood. [unless the alcohol is in the phlebotomist] |
I,f as you say the doctor is responsible for writing the order correctly, why should she even have to call the lab? The call goes to the doctor, and the conversation, in a nutshell, is "You are responsible, please find out what happened, and let me know. Thanks. Bye".
However, I have had similar problems in the past, and the follow through by the doctor did not happen. So your advice to call the lab is practical and good, but that is only because the doctoring was bad.