WHY DO I GET BLOOD TESTS DONE?
- The role of your family physician is not just to take care of you when you get sick, but to keep you healthy and living a full active life.
- Most labs that we order are PREVENTIVE CARE LABS which help your physician determine if you have any risk factors for chronic diseases that can cause you more ill health or even shorten your life.
- Sometimes when you are sick, your bloodwork can help us delineate what is causing your symptoms, or if you are developing an autoimmune disease, or even some cancers.See Part 2 coming soon for more information.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I NEED LABS?
- Leave that to your family physician. We have protocols and guidelines for different genders and age groups that we follow. Generally the frequency of lab testing and amount of tests will increase annually from middle age to your senior years. As you reach the mature years, we tend to decrease again, as your preventive care has helped to get you to a ripe old age!
WHERE CAN I GET LABS DRAWN?
Cara Direct Care patients are currently getting labs drawn at Quest facilities. Please contact us if you would prefer to have your labs done elsewhere.
DO I NEED TO PREPARE FOR MY BLOOD WORK?
If you are having annual preventive labs drawn and or a cholesterol or blood sugar check, please FAST FOR 12 HOURS prior to testing. You may have water, black tea or coffee.
HOW CAN I GET MY BLOOD TEST RESULTS?
Your lab test results are automatically sent to Cara Direct Care. However patients can SET UP A QUEST PATIENT ACCOUNT if they would like to access their blood results before hearing from the clinic.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I HAVE MY TESTS DONE?
At Cara Direct Care, we always communicate test results to patients. usually they are sent by email with a quick note. If there are more complicated issues to discuss, you will be requested to set up a follow up phone call.
NO NEWS IS NOT GOOD NEWS! Sometimes we do not receive the results, or do occasionally miss sending these results to patients. If you do not have an upcoming appointment to discuss these results, and have not heard from Cara Direct Care within 7 days of testing. PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL US. We appreciate the reminder to check that the results were sent to us from the lab.
Dr Clodagh Ryan, Family Medicine, Cara Direct Care
COMING SOON (PART 2 of 2):
WHAT CAN MY PHYSICIAN TELL ME FROM MY BLOOD TEST RESULTS?