Six weeks ago, that I had a lesion of the skin removed by a surgeon. Approximately 7 days after the biopsy, I received a letter from the pathology laboratory where the sample was analyzed under a microscope. With bated breath, I opened the letter, assuming that this criterion it contained the results, but was disappointed to find a Bill instead. As a physician, it felt strange to be in a position of having to wait as a colleague to give me the results that I have been trained to understand for me. However, I knew that in this case, I was wearing my "patient hat", and that I should trust that I would receive a call if there were an anomaly. I have not yet received a call, and I assume that no news is good news. But what happens if no news is an oversight? Perhaps there was a breakdown of communication between the path lab and the surgeon (or colleagues) and someone forgot to tell me about melanoma? Unlikely but not impossible, right?
Patients feel a similar anxiety with regard to the testing laboratory on a constant basis. In a perfect world, they would receive results along with their physicians, as well as an explanation full of what mean tests. But most of the time there a long time - a delicate period where patients must wait for a call or make a nuisance of themselves to the staff of the Office. Should not be a better way?
The New York Times looks at the issue of "the anguish of waiting for the results of tests", with some tips for patients in limbo:
As patients must wait for the results of the tests, anxiety increases as the slips of time in slow motion. But experts say that patients can regain a sense of control.
Start before the test itself.Because fear can cloud memory during interviews with doctors, take notes. If you can, bring a friend for the capture of the details that you may be missing.A few questions first:
What precisely is this test reveal? What are its limitations?How long should take results and why? The doctor calls the results, or should I contact the Office?If it is my responsibility to call, what is the best time, and who should I ask?What is advice of the physician to obtain results online?I think that patients should have access to their results without consideration of their doctor? While my first instinct is to say "Yes", I wonder if more anxiety may be caused by the results without an interpreter. There are so many results that may seem scary at first (for example, a mammogram with a "find" - the term "find", may mean that the entire breast was visualized in the image, or that there was a shadow caused by a layer of fat or - less frequently - it can also indicate that a suspicious lesion was observed). I do not argue that patients do not include the results of tests on their own, but the medicine has its own brand of jargon and nuances which require the experience to interpret.
Consider slight deviations from the average of a series of blood tests. They can be quite normal in the personal context of the patient, but can simply be listed by the laboratory as high or low. This can cause unnecessary anxiety for the patient. And what of smear results are listed as "ASCUS" - of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance? These can occur if the patient had simply sexual recent and are not necessarily signs of cancer.
""And what about the ambulance"chasing lawyers" there? Will be it additional frivolous right costumes created by the results of laboratory tests reported directly to the consumer as abnormal in some way (when they are really not, taking into account the clinical situation full) and the patients, assuming that their doctor has been neglect reporting does not the anomaly for them earlier? This could happen.
Ultimately, I think that physicians need to all make a concerted effort in the before laboratory (with an explanation if necessary) test results for patients as quickly as possible. But because doctors are those who command the tests in the first place, they do not have the right to see their (before the patient where appropriate)- and the obligation to transmit the information timely and fully explained. This is the value of having a doctor to order a test - expertise in the interpretation of the results are part of the package (and cost). When patients controlling their own tests (and in some cases they can) then we must all first to receive the results.
For my part, I will have to resort to Office staff nuisance to get my results confirmed... like any other regular patient. Oh well.
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