Lab Services
Throughout the course of a medical appointment, a service that is often necessary to provide a patient with the best diagnosis and treatment plan is a laboratory service/visit.
We are pleased to be able to offer our patients the ability to have laboratory services performed on-site at our health centers. Our partnership with Quest Diagnostics allows our patients accessibility to an on-site phlebotomist to collect the appropriate sample to be sent for testing. In a few locations where a Quest Diagnostics phlebotomist is not on-site, we have staff members trained and ready to provide this service. Lab work is an important service that assists our providers with the necessary analysis to make a medical diagnosis, and when necessary, determine the appropriate patient care plan to treat that diagnosis.
What type of appointment may require a lab visit during my patient journey?
Whether you have come to one of our locations in search of:
- An acute care service, which involves being treated for a brief but severe episode of illness or minor injury
- A hospital follow-up
- A primary care appointment such as an annual wellness exam, well-child visit, or continuity appointment to help you manage a chronic condition
Your appointment might involve the need for a laboratory service.
A phlebotomist may draw a sample of your blood, or you may be asked to provide a urine sample, or both, in order to diagnose what is negatively impacting your health, and the course of treatment to reverse or improve your health outcome.
What does it mean to be a CLIA Waived lab organization?
Some lab tests have been determined by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) or the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) to be appropriate to be performed and the results read by a trained HCA medical staff member. This determination has been made because of the low risk of error associated with the test. We are proud of our CLIA Waived status as it helps us to expedite a patient treatment plan during a patient visit.
Why is that important to know if I am a patient?
One of the benefits of performing a waived test includes your provider being able to know the results of this type of test during the patient appointment. This allows for the provider to determine a course of treatment in a timely manner to help the patient begin their treatment sooner rather than later. Common lab tests that fall into this category are:
- Dipstick urinalysis
- Urine pregnancy tests
- Blood glucose monitoring
- Flu/Strep/COVID-19 swab rapid tests
*Please Note: During the COVID-19 pandemic send-off tests continue to be a best practice and administered along with a COVID-19 rapid swab
What are moderate and high complexity tests?
A moderately complex or high complexity test are ones that require a number of criteria to be met prior to a medical professional running the test of the specimen taken from the patient by a phlebotomist. These tests often require the lab specimen to be sent to an off-site laboratory to be studied before a result can be communicated to a patient by a provider.
Common lab tests that fall into these categories are:
- Lipid panels that screen for cholesterol
- Complete blood count
- Urine drug screen
- And more!
We partner with Quest Diagnostics to provide this level of lab service for our patients.
We encourage you to talk openly with your provider during your appointment to answer any questions you may have about a lab test prior to having one performed, or after the results of your tests results have been received. A successful patient care journey is one where both patient and provider are working together to achieve the highest health result and patient care outcome.
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