Outsourced Phlebotomy Services: How the Options Compare and Which One Fits Your Facility

Outsourced phlebotomy services mean a vendor handles your blood draws, or supplies the people who do them, so your team does not. There are four ways to set it up, and they solve different problems. This guide compares them side by side and shows which one fits a home health office, a senior living community or a doctor’s office.

Phlebotomy On Wheels gives facilities nationwide two options, and you choose the one that fits your need: mobile phlebotomy for healthcare facilities when you need a draw done, or allied healthcare staffing when you need people on site.

What outsourced phlebotomy actually covers

Facilities usually mean one of two things when they say outsourcing.

Outsourcing the draw

A vendor sends a phlebotomist to your patients, your building or their own center, draws the blood and gets the specimen to the lab the order names. Your team does not have to schedule or perform the draw.

Outsourcing the people

A vendor places staff in your building, on a schedule you set, for administrative, customer support, technical and clinical roles, including EKGs and phlebotomists. Your team stays in charge of the day, and you skip the hiring.

Most of the confusion comes from mixing these up. A clinic that sends a few patients out for blood work each month needs the first. A senior living community with three open roles needs the second. Which one you need depends on the problem you are solving.

Why facilities are outsourcing now

The labor market is the main push. The American Society for Clinical Pathology 2024 Vacancy Survey, which drew more than 1,000 responses from medical laboratories, found a 9.9% vacancy rate for phlebotomy staff positions, about 1 in 10 jobs sitting empty. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 143,900 phlebotomist jobs in 2025, projects 7% growth through 2035 and expects about 18,000 openings a year.

Small facilities feel it most. BLS puts 36% of phlebotomists in hospitals and 33% in medical and diagnostic laboratories, and only 9% in doctors’ offices. A clinic or a home health office is often competing for the same people as hospitals and labs.

The draw itself matters too. A 2025 review of errors in one clinical laboratory, published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, found that 98.4% of recorded errors happened in the pre analytical phase, the steps before testing that include collection. That is a single laboratory, so it is not a national rate. It does show where problems tend to start, and why who does the draw is worth a decision.

Four ways to outsource phlebotomy, compared

Option	How it works	Best for	Watch out for
1. On demand draws	You send an order and a time. A phlebotomist comes to the patient or your facility.	Doctors’ offices, home health visits, homebound patients, occasional draws	Check that the vendor draws for the lab your provider already uses
2. Recurring facility program	Scheduled draws at your facility on set days, with no limit on volume	Senior living and nursing homes, group practices, steady monthly volume	Make sure there is no draw limit or minimum that caps you
3. Patient Service Center, appointment based	You send patients to a draw center, booked ahead	Patients who can travel, solo providers sending one patient at a time	Distance. A center only helps patients who can get there
4. Allied healthcare staffing on site	A placed person works in your building on your schedule, on demand, short term or long term	Open roles you need filled on site: administrative, customer support, technical and clinical, including EKGs and phlebotomists	Ask whether the vendor vets and background checks its team so you do not have to

If your problem is draws, start with options 1 to 3. If your problem is open roles, start with option 4. You choose staffing or mobile blood draws based on what you need.

For senior living and nursing homes, the volume difference matters. Mayo Clinic Laboratories notes that skilled nursing facility patients need frequent testing, enough that a lab can often justify phlebotomy visits several times a week, while assisted living residents are generally in better health and need testing less often. That is why recurring programs fit one and on demand fits the other. The CDC counts about 31,400 residential care communities in the U.S. in 2025, so the demand is spread across a lot of small sites.

Signs it is time to outsource

You do not need a crisis to justify it. Common signs:

• A draw gets pushed because the one person who does them is out
• Nurses or front desk staff are pulled into draws they were not hired for
• Your providers use more labs than you can keep arrangements with
• Patients are sent elsewhere for blood work because you cannot fit it in
• A role has been open for weeks and the work is landing on everyone else
• Your census or patient list is growing and the current setup cannot stretch further

If two or three of these sound familiar, it is worth a conversation.

In house versus outsourced: what actually changes

When you hire in house, you own the recruiting, the training, the scheduling, the backup plan for call outs and the relationship with every lab. When you outsource, much of that moves to the vendor. What stays with you is the decision of what you need and when.

That is why outsourced phlebotomy services tend to suit facilities with uneven volume. A full time hire is the same cost in a slow week as in a busy one. An outsourced setup follows your volume: more draws in a busy month, fewer in a quiet one, and no one on payroll in between. For staffing, the same logic applies. Our allied healthcare staffing is on demand, short term or long term, and you set the schedule, so you can add help for a busy stretch without a permanent commitment.

Common mistakes when outsourcing phlebotomy

Hiring one vendor per lab

It looks simple until your providers send orders to four labs and you are managing four relationships. One vendor that draws for every lab removes the problem.

Ignoring volume limits

Some arrangements cap the number of draws or require a minimum. Ask early, because a cap shows up at the worst time, when you are busiest.

Treating draws and staffing as the same thing

They solve different problems. Decide which one you actually need before you compare vendors.

Choosing on location alone

A draw center only helps patients who can reach it. Homebound and senior patients usually need someone to come to them.

Skipping the paperwork question

Ask how orders reach the vendor and how the specimen gets to the lab. Email, fax or portal for orders and a clear drop off at the lab the order names keeps the chain of custody clean.

What makes Phlebotomy On Wheels different

Here is what we do, and what it means for you.

We draw for every lab

Your providers use different labs. We draw for whichever laboratory the order requires, and your lab choice stays yours. You do not manage one draw vendor per lab.

No limit on draws and no minimum to start

Send one patient or a full program. The service grows when you do.

Three ways to draw

We come to your patients’ homes, come to your facility, or see patients at our Patient Service Center in Columbia, Maryland, appointment based.

You pick what fits

Choose mobile blood draws when you need a draw done, or allied healthcare staffing when you need people on site. Allied healthcare staffing covers administrative, customer support, technical and clinical roles, including EKGs and phlebotomists, and each role is its own placement, so you add only the help you need.

A vetted team

Our team is vetted and background checked, and our staff is certified and licensed, so you do not have to repeat that work.

Hard sticks and every age

We draw patients of all ages, including children and difficult veins.

Handled the right way

We are HIPAA compliant, with chain of custody on every draw.

Works the way you already work

Send orders by email, fax or portal. We use your kit or bring the supplies, and we drop the specimen at the lab the order names.

Nationwide

One vendor for a single office or several locations.

We are not a laboratory, and we are self pay only. We do not bill insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

Which option fits your facility

How to get started

1. Tell us what you need. Mobile blood draws or allied healthcare staffing, and roughly how often.
2. Meet with our team. A short call or meeting settles the setup. Pricing is covered in that conversation, not on this page.
3. Send the first order. Email, fax or portal, with the patient’s address and a time that works.

Prefer email? Write to sales@mobilebloodlabs.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready To Take Draws Or Open Roles Off Your Plate?

Sources

• American Society for Clinical Pathology. 2024 Vacancy Survey of medical laboratories in the United States. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2025.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, Phlebotomists.
• Pre analytical phase errors constitute the vast majority of errors in clinical laboratory testing. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, 2025.
• Hermansen J. Managing off-site phlebotomy: Considerations, coordination, and convenience. Mayo Clinic Laboratories, 2024.
• CDC National Center for Health Statistics. National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study, residential care communities.