PPM Failed Proficiency Testing

Hi Rachel, 

Yes, if you are not having any luck with the performing providers replying to your emails, you need to escalate. I would definitely contact your medical director and save those sent emails to demonstrate your paper trail. Have or can you visit the clinics and speak with the providers? 

Good luck!

I agree with both Mistie and Sharon,  your MD is overdue to be involved with this and needs to be ASAP.

As the previous commenters have noted, you definitely need to escalate to your Medical Director.  Provider-performed microscopy is one of the hardest areas to control from a laboratory perspective, for sure.  If you cannot get responses from the providers through your Medical Director,  your next step may be to insist they apply for their own CLIA certificate and state license and let them answer directly for their program.  That generally gets a compliant response in pretty short order.

Yes, if they're not responding to your emails you should get the medical director involved.  Who does  the yearly competency assessments for the clinicians?  When proficiency testing fails, they're supposed to review it with staff.  

YES!

If involving the medical director doesn't get you anywhere, with the long track record of non compliance you could certainly involve your Risk & Compliance Director as well or the provider credentialing department. 

Thank you ALL for taking the time to respond. I was worried this was all on my shoulders, but it sounds like an issue bigger than my jurisdiction. I'm going to get some advice from my lab director today, and see what she says. She will most likely have me get with the medical director, which sounds like the way to go at this point. Thank you!

Yes, get the Medical Director involved.  Stress the the licensure for your Laboratory is in jeopardy.  You could give them the option to apply for their own CLIA license, that way if they fail it doesn't affect your Laboratory license. 

I used to have a clinic that failed PT.  The doctor told me he knows how to do the PPM. He should not fail and he has done it for long time. I told him that he cannot operate on a PPM  CLIA certificate if he keeps failing the PT. I told him the consequences of not passing the PT, penalty of operating on non-waived CLIA and not in compliance. When I told him that he can get inspected and  cannot be paid by Medicare if they are non-compliant, they decided to change their certificate to just  waived tests.  They  sent their  samples to the main lab for  KOH and other microscopic  testing. They don't like it when  their pocketbooks are threatened. All our clinics carry their own CLIA certificate.  This is one reason why our clinics have  separate CLIA certificate from the hospital.  Our  Main  Lab director can talk to them  only  for advice since he is  not over their CLIA certificate.