Quest and friends what are your thoughts

[mcfaddens]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Post your thoughts.
Would you work for them?...
Do you work for them??
Has anyone out there worked for them or know a friend who has?
What is the focus of business? diagnosis or how to maximize a CPT code (do they care about patients or do they care about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ) I know this is a no brainer but I want to see the response on this one.
Please post away
I have a couple of clinicians who actually buy what the (enter mega lab name here) reps sell them. They think these labs are the standard of care.
This might be a useful reference link to those in the clinical world who may need a better understanding of the service we provide.

 

[lipomas]

Most labs will tell you that their focus is patient care. PATIENT CARE!!! Not the shareholders. It is about improving turnaround time and increasing diagnostic accuracy. Ultimately that is what matters to whoever is sending you the specimen. And the shareholders want more business. Getting more business is more important than maximizing revenue on existing business, because maximizing revenue is limited.

I don't know of any reputable lab which will encourage improper diagnostic techniques or outright fraud (if you can get away with it) in order to maximize CPT coding. But there are labs who do shotgun impox panels on cases even if they aren't necessary. They couch it in "patient care" of course.

Are these labs better than local community pathologists? With some things they are, because with size comes the ability to specialize and provide a more thorough and learned evaluation of certain specimens. And with size often comes improved efficiency and customer service. Local community pathologists who do all of these things will often come out ahead. Megalabs are not going to be very successful if they provide inaccurate diagnoses or take forever to get a case done. Clinicians will have no qualms about sending their business elsewhere. However, they might hesitate more with a local group they have a relationship with. MONEY is also important. INCENTIVES.

Would I work for one? I don't know. In some ways it is attractive because it allows for subspecialization and focus, and you can often do better financially by being efficient. But in other ways it isn't, because you are in a sense, just another drone (even if you are a "lab director"). It depends what matters to you and what kind of career you want.

 

[LADoc00]

Ive met alot of people who work for them. Ive known pathologists to work for them.

Ive yet to hear a single good thing about the experiences. Las Vegas would be a good example, the old pathology group founders there sold out to Quest, left town with a bag of loot and left all the junior people as Quest employees: 2 weeks of vacation/yr, 10+ hour days, productivity goals to meet etc etc. Probably the closest you will come to a Pathology version of 'Blood Diamond' in the states.

might have change a bit, but that was last I heard (maybe 5 years ago?).

Anyway, stay well away from Vegas. Actually all of Nevada for that matter.

 

[lipomas]

I heard there were two main pathology groups in vegas. One good one, and the "other" one (i.e. Quest). Don't think the good group has much respect for the Quest group. But maybe they sold out too!

 

[Entgegen]

How are most of these corporate labs set up in terms of working environment? I ask because at a smaller local hospital the path lab has 3 pathologists, each of whom has their own office and rotates call and grossing responsibilities, has more or less 9-5 work days, and all the specimens come only from the hospital itself. Turns out these 3 pathologists are technically employees of Ameripath and have been contracted out to this hospital. The youngest pathologist is currently in her 3rd year with them, starting right after her fellowship (she was actually recruited before her fellowship started), and the other 2 have been there significantly longer.

This isn't quite the setup that springs to mind when I think of "corporate labs." Was this perhaps just a group that was bought out by Ameripath at some point in the past, and Ameripath has just preserved the previous arrangements? Aside from the potential pay-cut of doing this versus a strict private practice gig, this type of setup really doesn't seem that bad at all...

Is the above scenario how most gigs with corporate labs are set up, or is it more of a rarity?

 

[LADoc00]

Ameripath went on a spree several years ago buying up practices similar to what Quest did. There are some rare groups even in California that are Ameripath operations.

Basically what they found was these practices which they bought often for vast sums of money never turned a profit (basically the old timers cashed out and their productivity nosedived, had to hire more employees to sign out cases etc...go figure). Ameripath and Quest stop buying path groups some time ago once it was apparent there was little to no money in it for them.

 

[Sirens]

I think the setup in K.C. is similar in that the pathologists at St. Lukes are all Ameripath employees. I agree, it doesn't sound like a bad gig especially if there are no other jobs. Doesn't Quest own Ameripath???? What say you LADoc!

 

[pathologic]

ameripath is owned by quest.