COVID-19

COVID-19

As the world copes with the COVID-19 crisis, this page will serve as a clearinghouse for information related to Quality Counts' business continuity plans.  Our business operations are continuing as normal.  All products and processes are currently online.  We will continue to monitor local, state, and national directives.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 205-561-2340 or at results@qualitycounts1.com.  Our support team remains on duty in our Tuscaloosa, AL headquarters.

We will continue to post updates to this page and will continue to notify our partners via email.  We wish you, your team, and your family safety and security during these challenging times. 

 

Update as of April 22, 2020

Effective 4/21/20, Quest Diagnostics Patient Service Centers (PSCs) are required mask/face covering for all donors.  The covering can be as simple as a bandana, handmade mask, scarf, etc..  Due to inventory limitations, Patient Services cannot supply masks to patients/donors who present without them.  In addition, they will be performing no-contact forehead temperature checks when donors enter the facility.  This will begin later this week as the equipment arrives at the PSCs.  Donors with a temperature over 100.3 will be turned away.  We advise that you allow extra time when sending donors to Quest PSCs for drug screen collections.  We imagine this policy extends to many Quest Preferred Network Sites as well. 

Some Quest Diagnostics PSCs are operating under modified hours.  For the most up-to-date information on clinic hours, please check use the Quest collection site finder athttps://appointment.questdiagnostics.com/patient/confirmation.

We have also been notified that Concentra clinics will be asking all patients to wear masks when in the centers.  Patients should bring their own mask/covering as clinic stock is limited, but the clinic can furnish if absolutely necessary (as long as stock is available). Unless there is a valid reason why they can't wear a mask or if they refuse, they will be asked to leave. They are able to wear bandanas, scarfs, homemade masks, or any store bought mask that covers the nose and mouth.  Patients refusing to wear a face covering will be asked to leave. The face coverings must be worn during the entire visit unless instructed to remove by our staff or clinician.

We are not aware of any mask requirements at LabCorp Patient Service Centers at this time.  For the most up-to-date information on LabCorp PSC hours of operation, visit https://www.labcorp.com/labs-and-appointments.   

Some individual and independent occupational health clinics have implemented similar temperature check and/or mask policies.  We recommend supervisors call ahead to clinics before sending donors for random, post-accident, or reasonable suspicion drug testing.  
Please contact us at drug@qualitycounts1.com if you need assistance locating a drug screen collection site. 

 

Update as of April 15, 2020

All Quality Counts operations are continuing as normal.  Our office continues to function while following CDC and state guidelines. 

Quality Counts is still able to complete your criminal background checks.  Despite court closures, we are currently able to retrieve criminal record data for 92% of candidates nationwide.  Our support team will continue to reach out to individual clients whose orders affected by delays/closures to outline alternative solutsion or projected completion dates.

For our occupational health clients, some clinics have discontinued Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT).  Other clinics have implemented check-in arrival procedures including temperature checks.  Please allow extra time for donors to complete testing/services at clinics.  Our nationwide clinic partners, Concentra, Nova, Quest Patient Service Centers, LabCorp Patient Service Centers, and EMSI continue to operate. Our MRO office is still fully operational and continues to exceed turnaround time benchmarks.  

Quality Counts has a limited number of COVID-19 Antibody Test Kits available for purchase by employers.  If you are interested in learning more, please contact derrick@qualitycounts1.com.  

 

 

Update as of March 18, 2020, 4:00pm CST

As educational institutions and employers close, reduce staff hours, or shift to remote office configurations, we are experiencing delays in fulfillment of domestic education and employment verifications.  Please be patient as our team works to contact employers and schools to verify candidate application information.  As is our protocol under normal circumstances, our team is making at least one contact attempt per day for all non-electronic verifications.  

Due to the worldwide nature of the COVID-19 crisis, effective immediately, and for the safety of our research partners on the ground, we are suspending all international education and employment verifications.  International verifications will resume when the threat of COVID-19 has subsided.  

Please contact us at results@qualitycounts1.com if you have any questions.  

 
 
 

Update as of March 18, 2020

As the U.S. evolves to the COVID-19 threat, we wanted to reach out to you to provide an update on Quality Counts’ business continuity plan. 

 First, all Quality Counts operations are continuing as normal.  All essential processes and personnel remain in place at this time.  We continue to monitor local, state, and national directives, and have taken steps to reduce our physical workforce in our Tuscaloosa offices, as some associates are now working through secure remote access.  All platforms and products are functioning as normal. 

 We are continuing to monitor order volumes and staff capacity.  As hiring slows, we may make minor adjustments to our hours of operation commensurate with demand.  We will notify you if we feel this is necessary. Any reduction, if implemented, will have no impact on order turnaround time or processing time. 

We are monitoring school closures throughout the nation and court closures in the jurisdictions below.  Court closures may cause delays in the jurisdictions below:

  • California – Contra Costa, San Mateo, Marin, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Francisco closed until 4/1/2020, Los Angeles closed through 3/19/2020,
  • Georgia – Bibb, Columbia, Liberty, Madison, Muscogee, Richmond, Crawford, Jefferson, Taylor, Giles courts closed until April.  Clayton, Henry, Spalding, Clarke, Polk, McIntosh closed for minimum of 2 weeks.  Long, Bryan, and Polk are placing limits on research times.  
  • Illinois – Cook County court activities have been reduced.  We do not anticipate this will impact criminal record searches at this time.
  • Kentucky – Bath, Bourbon, Boyd Carter, Clark, Clinton, Greenup, Hancock, Harrison, Hopkins, Marion, McCracken, Mclean, Morgan, Union, Washington, Woodford, Hardin, Marshall, Bullitt, Calloway currently closed to the public
  • Louisiana – Orleans Parrish closed 3/16/2020 to 4/13/2020.  Orders can still be completed using online source.  Delays may occur for file retrieval and court copies. Caddo closed through 4/10/2020. 
  • Massachusetts – All courts closed through today.  Additional closures may take effect. 
  • Michigan – Many courts currently closed.  We will transition to Michigan DPS Statewide Criminal Search for all clients currently utilizing county court searches.  
  • New Jersey – All courts are closed.  Duration currently unknown.  Civil orders still completed online. 
  • Tennessee- Grundy, Loudon, and Hickman currently closed until April. 

 We will continue to utilize all available resources to provide timely and accurate data and mitigate any effect from court closures.  We anticipate the list of court closures will continue to evolve; therefore, we will provide daily updates going forward.     

For drug testing clients, we are hearing that some collection sites have long delays for walk-in donors, or that clinics are requiring donors to schedule appointments.  We recommend donors or supervisors call clinics before donors report for testing to ensure all operations are proceeding as normal.  If you need help locating a collection site in a specific location, please emaildrug@qualitycounts1.com.  Our lab partners and MRO Office have taken steps to keep their services up and running as normal. 

 
 
 

Update as of March 12, 2020

As concerns mount regarding the COVID-19 Coronavirus, I wanted to share a brief update from Quality Counts.  We are continuing to monitor the evolving threat and are prepared to initiate our business continuity plans if necessary.  Our commitment is to continue to provide a high level of customer service while adapting to the impacts of COVID-19 and ensuring a safe environment for our team members and members of our communities.    

  • Currently, all Quality Counts operations are proceeding as normal. 
  • In the event that circumstances evolve, all operations can be transitioned to remote secure access within 2 business hours.  All business functions, including research and order fulfillment, will continue without interruption or delay if our workforce is unable to report to the office.  
  • In the event that our office must close, all customer service will continue to be available via our primary channels, including by emailing Quality Counts at results@qualitycounts1.com or calling our main office numbers, 205-561-2340 or 866-924-3255.  As always, our executive team will be available via phone or email.  Our President, Jennifer Deerman, can be contacted via email at jennifer@qualitycounts1.com
  • We are not aware of any delays or court closures at this time; however, we expect schools and other public institutions to continue to modify their schedules or close.  Right now we are not seeing delays with fulfillment of education or employment verifications, nor are we seeing delays with fulfillment of criminal research.  In the event that closures cause delays with criminal research, we will work with our court runners to manage volume and communications.  Criminal research can be conducted on approximately 65% of the U.S. population without physical access to a court house, so we anticipate criminal screening in many states, including Alabama, to continue as normal. 
  • For drug testing clients, we are not aware of any occupational health clinics who have closed or limited access to collections due to COVID-19 at this time.  If your donors are traveling a long way to a clinic, you may consider having them call ahead to ensure drug test collections are continuing as normal.  Our laboratory partners are continuing to function as normal.   
  • We are currently experiencing delays with international criminal research and employment/education verifications.  We anticipate international delays will continue intermittently depending on location.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will notify you via email in the event of any changes.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at results@qualitycounts1.com or call our office at 866-924-3255. 

On behalf of the entire team at Quality Counts, we wish you and your families safety and comfort during this fast-changing situation.  We’re here for you, so please don’t hesitate to contact us.