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about treatment
• understands the need to make
necessary changes to their lifestyle
for managing their condition
• is able to challenge and ask questions
of the health care professionals
providing their care
• takes responsibility for their health and
actively seeks care only when necessary
• actively seeks out, evaluates and makes
use of information
Educating patients about the meaning of their
laboratory tests promote these goals.
When the patient understands the
reasons specific tests are ordered, what
the results mean, and how they are
utilized in the diagnosis, treatment, and
monitoring of their conditions, the more
likely it is that the patient will do what is
needed to attain and maintain a
healthier state.
Patient education regarding lab
testing can be provided in many ways,
including through:
• The physician directly
• Laboratory staff and other ancillary
healthcare providers who have the
education to provide this information,
such as nurses, and pharmacists
• Reference laboratories, where patients
can visit directly or receive information
via mail or online
• Government information sites such as
the FDA, and the CDC
• Private laboratory information sites,
such as Lab Tests Online; or Health
Network Laboratories;
• Laboratory testing information
provided online by major medical
clinics and hospitals
• Health insurance companies
• Laboratory profession sites such as the
American Association for Clinical
Chemistry (AACC); the American
Society for Microbiology (ASM), and
the American Society for Clinical
Testing is also no longer confined to the laboratory.
Technological innovations have led to testing that
can be performed in other healthcare settings.
Decisions are made at the patient’s bedside...
“ When the patient
understands the
reasons specific
tests are ordered,
the more likely it is
they will do what is
needed to attain
and maintain a
healthier state.”
Irwin Z. Rothenberg, MBA, MS, CLS(ASCP)
Pathology (ASCP)
• Laboratory Accreditation
organizations, such as the American
College of Physicians (CAP), COLA
and The Joint Commission
information on an individual’s genetic
disposition or risk for certain m edical
diseases or conditions. This knowledge
may help individuals make decisions
about lifestyle choices.
The first DNA Test company that the
Additional catalysts driving the
FDA
has authorized to provide this
need for patient education about
information
is “23 and Me.” This testing
lab testing - Direct Access aka
does not include checks for genes that
Direct-To-Consumer Testing
predispose people to cancer; rather, it looks
Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) testing
instead for DNA variation involved in ten
permits consumers to order laboratory
other conditions, such as Parkinson’s, Late-
tests directly from a laboratory without
onset Alzheimer’s and Celiac disease.
necessarily having to work with their
Regardless of the method by which
healthcare provider. These test results may patients order their own tests, they must
be used to monitor an existing health
have the correct and complete information
condition, identify a previously unknown
to understand what the results mean; when
medical disorder, or provide data
it is necessary to follow up with physician
regarding personal health characteristics. visits; and when to seek immediate help.
DTC laboratory testing is a key element of
ongoing efforts to increase individuals’
Point-of-care testing (POCT) and
engagement in managing their healthcare, the rise of retail medicine
and it is critical that DTC test results are
Testing is also no longer confined to the
accurate and well understood.
laboratory. Technological innovations have
Currently almost 40 states and the
led to testing that can be performed in
District of Columbia permit consumers
other healthcare settings. Medical decisions
to order some or all of their laboratory
tests directly—without the involvement of are made at the patient’s bedside, in the
emergency room or clinic, at the
a physician. Similarly, the federal
government joined this trend by issuing a workplace, in an exam room of a
physician’s office, in pharmacies, and in
regulation directing clinical laboratories
to provide individuals with access to their retail centers, such as Target and Walmart.
Increasingly, these decisions are based on
test data upon request. With these new
simple tests performed at the point-of-care,
policies in place, consumers are
using devices that are “waived” from most
increasingly involved in guiding the
federal oversight requirements, and are
health decisions that affect their lives.
thus designated as waived tests...
To this list of uses for direct-to-
consumer testing we can now add at
Read more of this and other articles at
home DNA testing that provides
www.PhysiciansOfficeNews.com
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