An email leaked to the website Reddit shows that Mercy is having troubles with their transition to outsourced diagnostic testing by Quest Diagnostics.
Mercy verified the validity of the letter from CEO Lynn Britton to staff that was posted online Saturday. The letter states that “you are all acutely aware that since the conversation of our outreach lab service to Quest, we have experienced numerous service failures impacting our patients.”
The letter goes on to say that there are three major issues:
- Technical or data interface failures between Mercy and Quest;
- Staffing shortages at draw sites and different ways patients must sign in and register that result in poor customer service;
- Confusion about workflow changes.
“I realize the poor execution of this transition has placed you in very difficult situations with Mercy patients,” Britton wrote.
KWTO reached out to Mercy about the letter, and was sent the following statement:
We recognize the challenges that our patients have endured with the transition of Mercy’s outreach lab services to Quest. Initially, we found our electronic health record was not sending physician orders for lab tests correctly. While we had successfully tested the physician order interface before the transition, it did not work as intended when it counted for our patients. The interface is working correctly now, physician orders for tests are successfully reaching the appropriate lab and Mercy and Quest continue to work together to resolve previously unanticipated changes in staffing and workflows.
Once we complete this work, patients will experience the benefits Mercy sought through this transition: to lower the costs of lab testing for our patients, provide additional locations for lab services in many communities and providing patients and their doctors with the high-quality testing they desire.
Here is the original letter as posted to Reddit:
