By Ryah Luevano
Updated: Sept 29, 2026
Published: Sept 29, 2026
An unexpected medication adherence result can feel like an accusation — to the provider reading it, and to the patient it’s about. It doesn’t have to be either.
Reading the Green, Yellow, and Red Report
Southwest Labs reports adherence findings with a simple color-code. Green means a patient’s results are consistent with what’s prescribed. Yellow flags something worth a conversation — a missing medication, an unexpected substance, a level that’s off from what’s expected. Red signals a result that needs more immediate attention.
What a Yellow or Red Flag Actually Means
The color-code isn’t a verdict. It’s a starting point. A yellow result might mean a patient stopped taking a medication because of side effects they never mentioned, ran out early, or is managing pain from more than one source. It might also point to diversion or misuse. Either way, the result opens a conversation the provider might not otherwise have known to start — which is the entire point of adherence monitoring in a pain management practice.
What This Means for Your Practice
- Use an unexpected result to start a conversation, not to end a treatment relationship.
- Ask about the specific substance or missing medication before assuming misuse or diversion.
- Let the color-code triage where to focus first, especially with a busy patient panel.
- Document the conversation, not just the result, as part of the patient’s ongoing care plan.
Southwest Labs is a locally owned, CAP- and CLIA-accredited reference laboratory based in Albuquerque, serving providers throughout New Mexico with toxicology and infectious disease testing. To review our current toxicology test menu or get started sending samples, contact our team at Info@southwestlab.com or (505) 609-LABS.