Is there any external auditing of companies that perform blood tests?
I just had some routine blood testing ordered by my doctor. The results that came back were just too good to be true. In every measurement there was supposedly a huge improvement. I think the lab mixed up my results with someone else.
If there is no outside auditing, the only way of checking the validity is by checking tests for reasonableness. Based on a patient’s overall health, demographics and previous results, doctors can make an estimate of what results should come back.
I think the labs should be forced to do a retest at no additional cost if the results from one year differ by a certain amount from the previous year.
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6 Answers
Do they have your blood type right?
I suggest talking to your doctor about requesting a second test because of discrepancies. Your doctor carries more weight when he says, “that’s not possible.”
Auditing or no, there is still always room for human error.
Please let me be the first to tentatively offer you congratulations if your misgivings turn out to be unfounded.
Thanks, that makes me feel better about testing in general.
Definitely get retested if your results seem impossible. @Rarebear gave you a good link to answer your question. Even if a lab is audited, they still can make a mistake. Getting them to do it for free on a new blood specimen might be difficult.
One time I was having cultures done and I told the doctor, if they do it incorrectly and don’t follow your instruction I will not pay for the test. The doctor and her nurse looked at me like I was the biggest pain in the ass. I indeed am a pain, because I expect everyone to fuck up at this point, and I am sick of it. Well, the lab did not follow the doctors instructions; I was right. When I called the nurse to say I am not going to pay, she got defensive saying she wrote it up correctly. I don’t doubt she did, but PLEASE at least tell me I was right and give me a little acknowledgment after treating me like shit for even mentioning up front I won’t pay when they mess it up. My doctor did get the fees taken off, she said she would repeat the test. I never did the test again, because this is what it has become for me, a series of incompetence, I can’t take it anymore.
I have had blood test results that I thought were wrong on myself and my aunt. When they were run again the result was extremely different. But, we, I, paid for it to be redone, because the doctor didn’t believe they were wrong. Really depends on the doctor agreeng with you or not. I guess if you have a new set of tests run and the results are vastly different you can go back and try to get the first set of fees wiped out. You have to decide whether to use the same lab again, or a different one for the second set of tests. I think blood tests are rarely mixed up, but I obviously do think it can happen.
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