Doc gave me a requisition number - do I get to see the results?

[BackToRegular]

My TRT doc gave a me a LabCorp requisition number for bloodwork. Do I get to the see the results of the blood work or do they go directly to him first? Also can I see what will be checked with the bloodwork via the requisition before the blood is taken (I may want to add additional tests for my own purposes if they're not already included).

 

[rustylwb]

I have a record of the last ten years at Quest. When I do a test I tell the dr. I will be going to Quest. I've never had Dr. say no. On my Quest I can look at all of the blood work and the grafts of how it has changed over the years. It's a Kool way to store your info. FYI you can see the results before the Dr. I have taken my results to the Dr with me.

 

[TheDracus]

Labcorp will report your results to you in your patient portal. Just create a login.

You have a legal right in all test results. The doctors and labcorp can no keep them from you.

 

[davidrn]

Establishing a patient portal account helps with getting quick lab results for either Lab Corp or Quest. Better for you to see the actual results, not just hear the doctor proclaim the usual (BS) "your fine, everything is within normal limits". Accepting this comment is a mistake, we always want to be optimal, not normal. T levels (etc) are calculated from thousands of men, who usually have (multiple) health issues, hence why they are getting labs, if you are 45, you don't want to be grouped with a 90 year old, or someone with 4 serious health issues.

 

[Vince]

I do the same thing with my LabCorp and Cleveland heart labs. I love having the patient portal, makes it easy for me to compare all my labs.

 

[DragonBits]

Labcorp will report your results to you in your patient portal. Just create a login.

You have a legal right in all test results. The doctors and labcorp can no keep them from you.

Things to keep in mind.

As regards labcorp reporting, not always. An example, if I buy a test from life extension, the test is done by labcorp BUT their portal never has those results, LE sends results directly to me, the individual who ordered the test. Another typical situation, if tests are done at a hospital or a doctors office, the results aren't done by Labcorp./quest, it is done by their own private lab equipment on site. This is necessary for any sort situation where a doctor needs results quickly to decide what are their treatment options. Typically an emergency, but that happens whenever you take a test done at the hospital.

For most situations done by Labcorp, results are typically sent to the doctor 1-3 days before they appear on the Labcorp patient portal. The last 2 years or so, labcorp lets you know the doctor already has the results and they will appear on their portal 1-4 days later.

All that said, I have never had a serious problem getting original test results as done by the lab since 1992. Sometimes it was more difficult, more hoops to jump though, but. I always asked for it and get it.

I first I scan a copy or save a copy to my computer entered by date, then enter most of the results directly into an excel spreadsheet, so I can easily see any trends over time. Doctors tend to only look at most the last year of results, if that. Doctor tend to only look for flags.

Labcorp flags I have seen are abnormal, high, critical, low and alert.

I totally agree, you need to get the original report as written by the lab, not whatever the doctor decides you need to know about. Most likely 80% of people won't know what to do with their lab results, but most of us here understand the reports.

Here are some situations where I found this useful. My PSA was already 2.1 in 1996, way before I was on TRT. My Potassium levels are often out of range high, not by a lot, but enough to generate a flag. The only "supplement" that raised my HDL was wine/alcohol.

Another interesting thing, I can see what the difference is between being seriously sick and just being a little out of range. In 2010 when I have hepatitis, my SGOT (alt) (liver) was 3300 (range 0-40), Bilirubin (0-1.2 range) was 26.2, c-reactive was 14, HDL was 6. Several other results were also obviously out of whack.

A few months ago I got the Modena vaccine, a few days later I took a cholesterol test, my HDL was 29 while normally it is 45-60, Total C was 246, which is the highest I have ever seen my TC.

For me, having changed health plans and doctors repeatedly since 1999, doing some tests in other countries, I need to have a copy since no one else can see the big picture. My experience is that if I do a "data dump" with a new doctor, their staff never really enters 40 pages of old results to whatever system they have. I think they make a digital copy, but then it goes into the file and never gets looked at.