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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Lab Corps in Fairfax - Don't go there!!!
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Anonymous
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I hate essentially bad-mouthing a business, but if it saves someone the experience that we went through, well then it's worth it.
4 weeks ago I took my 19 month old daughter in for some blood work. I called ahead of time and tried to make an appt. and was told that they didn't do that, we just had to show up and take our chances. I then asked when was a good time to get someone who was "good with babies" and was told that they're all "great with kids" and the lady on the phone actually seemed a bit irritated that I even asked. (That should have been my first clue not to go) We showed up and it was a 2 hour wait. My girls were as well behaved as they could be, considering the circumstances (crowded waiting room, lots of irritated people, no air in the room, etc) When we finally got our turn the lab tech. instructed me to restrain my child. She then proceeded to dig around in her arms, over and over again. After about 5 mins. of this my arms we about to break from "restraining" her so much and my daughter was sobbing hysterically. I asked if they could get someone else in there to help me hold her and that they needed to get the blood quickly or we were leaving. The lab. tech got really snippy with me and rudely called in another tech (who was on the phone with a friend at the desk) to help her. The new tech then rolled her eyes at me and whispered to the other tech to "just get this done" They spent a few mins. digging around in my DD's other arm and then finally proceeded to get the blood drop by drop out of her finger. I watched while they were getting the blood from her finger and asked quite a few times if they were getting enough blood (it didn't look like they were) and was finally told "we do know what we're doing, we're professionals" all the while rolling their eyes at each other. Rude. Was told that they got the blood that they needed and we left. Flash forward two weeks later and my daughter's arms were still bruised. The bruises were HORRIBLE. Then we get the call from our pediatrician (who was also anxious to get the results...had talked to him several times over the past weeks....both waiting for lab work to get back) that they weren't able to run the tests because THEY DIDN'T GET ENOUGH BLOOD!!!! Ahhhhh! We waited a few more days to let the bruises heal a bit more and then went over to Quest Diagnostics for the blood work this time. My daughter started practically hyperventilating the minute she saw the lab chair and screaming when she saw the needle. Obviously she was traumatized from before. They were able to get the blood in one stick and she actually stopped crying while they were doing it. The tech at Quest said that she had "great veins" and when we told her about the experience at Lab Corps she was mortified. Flash forward to now and we get a bill from Lab Corps for services rendered. Um, NO. I called my insurance company who were royally ticked that they'd billed them also for the lab work, and they actually billed it like the work was done. So now they're in the process of disputing the charge for us - thank you BCBS! I'm in the process of filing a complaint with Lab Corps but thought that I'd also spread the word around. Corporate Lab Corps were also mortified at this experience. Hmm.... So, Lab Corps in Fairfax = BAD, and Quest Diagnostics in Fairfax (Arlington Blvd)=very good. |
Anonymous
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OP here, sorry just realized that it's Lab Corp, not Corps
Must have been thinking of the Marine Corps or something.... |
Anonymous
| I've never had that bad of an experience there before, but I've never had a good one either. I've been to 3 lab corps, and it's the worst (although the other two weren't great either). The people are just unbelievably and universally rude. Unfortunately, with MDIPA I don't have a choice to go to Quest anymore. Sorry about your experience. |
Anonymous
Is this the one on Prosperity? |
Anonymous
| I'm sorry for your experience. The Labcorp in Alexandria on Duke was good with my one year old. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Yeah, I've been there. I didn't have a problem when my blood was drawn, but when I saw the technician I was REALLY worried. I hate to judge people by how they look, but she had really, really long techni-colored and pierced fingernails and spiky hair. Didn't think that was very professional grooming. |
Anonymous
| I only take my son to the Children's Hospital in Fairfax (their satellite office) or Arlington Hospital for his blood work. I had a really bad experience with him at Fairfax hospital and I will only take him to the above two places now. |
Anonymous
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I am VERY picky who I let near my kid's veins, so thanks for sharing this OP.
Our peds office does the blood draw on the premises, thank God. |
Anonymous
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My son has an immune disorder and he gets blood drawn ALL THE TIME, he is now 2 and we've been going regularly since he was 12 mos. I'm quite the professional and have seen it all. I only go to the fairfax hospital lab. They are very gentle and provide cookies, crackers, candy, juice, and stickers to make it at least a little bit better. They also take appointments. Here are some tips I've learned over the past year:
1. Always fill your child up with as much water/liquid as possible, really just over-do it as much as possible. It makes the veins plump and the job much easier. This is KEY. 2. Ask for someone who either specializes in small babies/toddlers or at least someone good at it. 3. Never make an appointment on a Monday or Friday, these are very busy days. Also, always go for an early morning appt. 4. Make sure they are using the best arm. I've learned that my son's best is his left. For some reason, the nurses always want to go to his right. I learned this the hard way when the first time the went "fishing" with his right. Now they always get my son first time and he no longer cries. Please always use hospital labs, I find that they have phlebotomists that specialize in the little babies/toddlers. The Quests and LabCorps of the world oftentimes are running drug tests all day long on adults. |
Anonymous
| I went there first thing in the morning once because I was hoping to be first in line (after having waited a couple hours on a prior visit). I sat down in the waiting room and then the receptionist came out from the back area and proceeded to chew me out for not waiting outside because they weren't open yet. I was (clearly) pregnant and their door was unlocked. How was I to know? I asked her if I should leave and she begrudgingly let me stay put. So rude, you're right! Unfortunately at the time I had to use lab corp because my insurance required it. |
Anonymous
| If your insurance allows you to use Quest, I would certainly keep using them. I love that you can make an appointment online, and just show up and get seen. I also love the looks on the faces of people who have been waiting for hours, when I just pop in, and get taken into the back. Hey, if they made appointments, they would have to sit and wait. |
Anonymous
| I also took my 12 mo. of DD (and when she was 9 mo. old) to the satellite lab office of the Child. Hospital lab off of Prosperity and Arl. Blvd. The folks were rather slow and I had to call and schedule an appt. to make sure there was a lab tech there. But the tech was nice and made the blood collection quickly. Thank goodness. |
Anonymous
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I have to agree that Quest in Fairfax (off of Arlington Blvd) was really great with my 4 year old DS. One stick and it was done, and the techs really put my son at ease before the blood draw. Our pediatrician sent us there for the blood draw saying that they have a lot of experience with kids and are usually very good. They were also really good about phoning the doc with the (abnormal) results very quickly and immediately answering her questions about the test results.
We also had a good experience with Fairfax Hospital for a blood draw on my 3 yo DD, but I think I'd pick Quest over the hospital mostly because it's less intimidating than a hospital for a child, and it was much easier to find Quest than it was to find the right place to go at the hospital. |