In its continued effort to make the best use of patients’ time during their visits, the USF Physicians Group is opening Patient Labs in the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare and the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare.

The two Labs will provide patients with on-site phlebotomists who will collect blood and urine samples, helping patients not only get their labs taken faster but also get their results sooner, allowing for faster decision making for treatment plans and better patient outcomes, said Jed Varanelli, JD, MBA, Laboratory Business Manager for the USF Physicians Group.

“So many of us tend to procrastinate getting that lab work done because it’s an extra errand in our already busy lives,” Varanelli said. “Now, when our health care providers prescribe lab work, our patients will only have to come the first floor of either USF Health site.”

Each Patient Lab is in newly remodeled space with components designed for comfort, as well as efficiency.

Patient Labs in the newly remodeled space in the South Tampa Center.

Initially, the Labs will provide services on a first-come, first-served basis. In certain cases, such as when it’s a hardship for a patient to get to the first-floor Lab, specimens can be collected by USFPG providers in the exam rooms or on the clinic floors. Phlebotomists will be trained across specialties, including pediatrics.

In the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare, the Patient Lab is on the first floor, down the main hallway, beyond the elevators and toward the Imaging Center.

In the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, the Patient Lab is located on the first floor, just behind the reception desk and next to the waiting area.

The goal of the new service, Varanelli said, is to streamline and expedite laboratory processing for USFPG patients.

“It’s a one-stop-shop, one-experience approach,” he said. “And it’s another way we’re making life better for our patients.”

From left, Amber Grooms, who is based at the South Tampa Center, Marcela La Rosa , who is based at the Morsani Center and Jed Varanelli.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications