Operational Policies

Hours

The laboratory hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST. Technical and clinical consultations are available outside of those hours seven (7) days a week. Machaon Diagnostics observes the following holidays:

Staff 

Machaon Diagnostics is staffed by doctoral-level scientists, California-licensed clinical laboratory scientists and clinical research associates that specialize in coagulation, platelet, immunology and molecular diagnostics testing.

Consultation

Dr. Brad Lewis is board certified in hematology and internal medicine and provides clinical consultation for the laboratory. CA-licensed clinical laboratory scientists and the medical director provide technical consultation.

Telephone

Machaon Diagnostics prides itself on fast, reliable and customizable service. Phone calls go directly to the laboratory where experienced scientists will respond to all inquiries.  (510) 839-5600.

Turnaround Time

TAT is a chief concern of Machaon Diagnostics. Batching of routine laboratory test is our customary policy; however, we provide significant flexibility in our test schedule to meet the needs of all clients and situations. Please call the lab to request ASAP (as soon as possible) or STAT (immediate) testing.

Courier

Machaon Diagnostics provides pick-up of frozen, room temperature and refrigerated samples from hospital and physician-office clients in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Please phone the laboratory for courier time schedules as many Northern California facilities have the option of multiple pick-up times.

Other couriers and national and international overnight couriers also deliver specimens to the laboratory. If your selected courier will be making specimen deliveries outside hours of operations, please phone our laboratory to ensure the courier can be given access to our locked specimen-receiving container. An alternate receiving location may be given to some couriers.

Result Reporting

Assay results will be faxed the same day the results are released from the laboratory. A mailed copy can be requested but will not be mailed routinely unless requested.

Test Interpretation

Non-emergency clinical and technical interpretation of test results is available during hours of operation. Most tests will contain clinical comments with references that may not be transferred into all LIS (Laboratory Information System) and HIS (Hospital Information System) software. Please refer to an original copy of the Machaon Diagnostic Laboratory Results document or phone the laboratory for further information.

Further Testing

Machaon Diagnostics saves blood samples for a minimum of 60 days. If you would like to request additional testing, please call the laboratory manager for assistance. Add-on forms may be downloaded from the forms page of the website.

Forms

Test order forms, add-on forms, sample processing guidance, advanced beneficiary notice and other forms may be found within the forms page of the website.

HIPAA

Machaon Diagnostics requires all clients to have a completed Health Information Portability and Accountability Agreement (HIPAA) document on file. This program has been implemented to comply with HIPAA regulations and to outline Machaon Diagnostics’ Patient Health Information (PHI) measures. Please download this document from the website or phone the laboratory to have one sent to your facility.

Discounted Pricing

Machaon Diagnostics provides reduced pricing for certain clients that send high volume testing. Please phone the laboratory manager to inquire about available contracts.

Client Billing

Hospitals and facilities servicing inpatients are billed directly. Net Thirty (30 days) terms are applied to all invoices. Invoices for testing and consultative services are processed in the first week of every month. Invoices are itemized or grouped depending on client billing agreement. Please direct all billing questions to client services. Delinquent payments may jeopardize contractual agreements.

Patient Billing

Patients are billed in the same format as clients with Net Thirty (30 days) terms. Credit card and payment plans are available upon request for certain patients. Machaon Diagnostics reserves the right to submit delinquent accounts to a collection agency for payment of services after ninety (90) days of no payment and/ or no response.  You may be asked to pay interest payments and other penalties for past due bills.

Private Pay

Machaon Diagnostics is a private pay laboratory. Third Party and Medicare Billing services may be provided to Machaon Diagnostics contracted Business Associate Clients. Please call the laboratory if you are interested in receiving more information about our contractual agreements.

Third Party Billing

Machaon Diagnostics is not contracted with any insurance providers. Therefore, third party billing requests must be received with a completed Insurance Provider Form which can be found within the forms page of the website.

Medicare/ Medicaid Billing

Machaon Diagnostics is an approved provider of Medicare. Due to the esoteric nature of several of our assays, an Advanced Beneficiary Notice (ABN) must be completed and submitted with these specimens. Medicare will not pay for routine screening tests, Research Use Only (RUO) tests and tests not covered under the submitted ICD-9CM code.  We are not currently enrolled in Medicaid programs.