Problems continue with the shift of lab services at Allina Health, union doctors say, with caregivers cautioning that delayed test results and reduced services are raising costs and slowing access to care.
On Friday, union members at the Doctors Council SEIU issued a public call for action from the board of directors at Allina Health, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that sold its outpatient lab business to New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics in a Sept. 16 deal.
Earlier this week, a union leader told the Minnesota Star Tribune the shift of outpatient lab work thus far had been “a disastrous, chaotic mess” that raised safety concerns.
“This change has compromised our ability as providers to deliver high quality care to our patients and their families,” Britta Kasmarik, an Allina Health nurse practitioner in Bloomington and member of Doctors Council SEIU, said in a Friday news release.
Kasmarik added, “this change has prevented providers from being able to order labs that are pertinent to appropriately evaluating and treating our patients” and has “resulted in providers having no other choice but to send patients to [urgent care] or emergency rooms, which subjects them to higher health care bills and longer wait times.”
Union leaders said Friday the problems reflect a new reality for patients and workers that goes beyond issues with rollout logistics. Allina disputed this assertion and said the health system is two weeks into a complex transition where Allina and Quest are actively working to stabilize lab services.
In a statement, Allina called patient safety its “first priority.”
“We are implementing all operational options and clinical solutions to ensure we can meet the needs of our patients and care teams as soon as possible,” the health system said. “We are seeing daily improvements and are committed to restoring service levels to the standard our patients expect and deserve.”
