Newborn babies get their blood tested for several disorders minutes after they’re born. Catching these rare diseases early can help prevent long-term health problems. Arizona has improved the time it takes to get these sample tested.   

In July, 98 percent of the tests got to the state lab in Phoenix within three days. That is a significant improvement from last year. In 2013, Arizona hospitals were getting less than 70 percent of the samples to the labs within three days.  

According to Director of the Arizona Department of Health Will Humble part of the problem is that the courier service transporting the samples didn’t work on the weekend.

“When a baby was born in an Arizona hospital, say, on a Friday afternoon, that blood spot sample didn’t get out of the building till late morning or noon on Monday,” Humble said.

Basic logistical changes in transportation and hospital mail rooms improved the rate of speed of testing the samples by 30 percent.