Update 4/11/2024: The supplier shortage is ongoing. For patient health, we will now be sending these specimens to Mayo Clinic Laboratories, please note that this will impact trending charts in Corewell Health Epic. Please continue to order Aldosterone LAB1230656 and Direct Renin LAB1230657 separately.
Original Post: Due to a supplier shortage of Aldosterone reagent, Aldosterone (LAB 1230656 and LAB1230661) testing will be temporarily unavailable at Corewell Health Laboratories West.
Effective Thursday, April 18, 2024, Corewell Health Laboratory will discontinue the send out test Hepatitis A IgG Antibody, Serum (Mayo Test ID: HAIGG). This test has been made obsolete by Mayo Clinic Laboratories. We recommend to our healthcare providers the following in-house testing:
1.Hepatitis A Total Antibody (LAB1230596): intended for the clinical laboratory diagnosis of acute or past hepatitis A virus infection in persons with signs or symptoms of hepatitis and in persons at increased risk for hepatitis A infection, to identify HAV susceptible individuals and to determine the presence of an antibody response to HAV in vaccine recipients.
2.Hepatitis A Antibody, IgM (LAB7980): intended for use as an aid in the laboratory diagnosis of an acute or recently acquired hepatitis A virus infection.
This issue is resolved. It was identified as an issue within Corewell Health Epic Preference Lists. If you are still encountering issues, please reach out to Service Now. This post will be archived in 7 days.
Due to an error from our system changes that happened on Sunday, March 17, 2024, the HPV reflex on the Pap testing orderable is not reflexing appropriately based on ASCCP Guidelines.
The Cytology Laboratory (Corewell Health Reference Laboratory West) and our Digital Services teams are aware of the error and working on a solution to correct the missed HPVs that were processed this week. As the correction may cause a slight delay in HPV results, please hold add-on requests for HPV until Friday (3/29). If you are concerned about an HPV being missed after this date (3/29/24), please fill out an Add-On form and fax to the number on the form (Note: Pap Specimens are held for 30 days).
We apologize for any inconvenience and confusion. If you have any further questions or concerns, please use the contact us link above.
Effective February 7, 2024, at 7:30 AM, Corewell Health West Laboratories will go live with a new reference range for the calculated Anion Gap (AG). The AG reference range will be adjusted to align with recent reference range studies.
The following will be the new normal reference ranges for AG:
Anion Gap: 5 – 14 mmol/L
As of January 26, 2024, for the following tests, the testing platform has changed from EliA Fluorescence Enzyme Immunoassay (FEIA) from Thermofisher to Multiplex Flow Immunoassay from Biorad. Please review the lab catalog for any changes to collection information or reference ranges.
• Anti-dsDNA Antibody
• Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide (CCP) Antibody
• Celiac Antibody Cascade
• Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody
• Gliadin Antibodies
Effective January 17, 2024, UFH Anti-IIa testing will be performed at both Corewell Health Reference Laboratory West and Blodgett Immediate Response Laboratory in Grand Rapids.
Effective December 20, 2023, Rheumatoid Factor, IgM, Quantitative will be replaced with Rheumatoid Factor.
Influenza cases numbers are currently increasing throughout West Michigan. Influenza prevalence guides the most appropriate testing approach and sufficient prevalence has now been reached for influenza rapid antigen or point of care testing (e.g. Sofia instrument) to have improved performance. The use of point of care testing as a screening method during high prevalence reduces both the cost to the patient and turn-around-time as compared to lab-based molecular methods. Point of care tests generally have high analytical specificity, but lack the sensitivity of nucleic acid amplification methods (e.g. PCR). For this reason, PCR testing is still recommended for hospitalized patients and for outpatients with a negative result if influenza is still suspected and if the result will impact clinical decision making.
| Low influenza prevalence | High influenza prevalence | |
| Recommended order | Influenza PCR | Influenza Point of Care Testing or Influenza PCR |
Effective Monday, October 2, 2023, the Outpatient Lab Draw Sites in Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon counties (excluding the Zeeland Hospital and Gerber Hospital sites) will begin a new process for walk-in patients.
Registration staff will begin informing the patient of their wait times based on the scheduling template available for that site for that day. This will allow the patient to make an informed decision on whether to wait, come back at a later time, or schedule an appointment time that works best for them. Patients choosing to schedule, may schedule for any available sites, times and dates in MyChart, or they may schedule with the registrar for the next 24-48 hours. (Note: lab staff does not have the ability to schedule patients.)
Additionally, at this time, Blodgett Outpatient Lab is temporarily closed until further notice. Sites closest to Blodgett are the Integrated Care Campus at 426 Michigan St NE, 4100 Lake Drive, and Integrated Care Campus at 2750 East Beltline, or patients may visit Find a Doctor | Corewell Health to find a lab location nearest to them.