Getting your lab work/blood work

Our top GOAL is to have your lab results available at your appointment.

The following litany of events has to happen, just right, in order to meet this goal. Our hope is that after we educate you about the complexity of this process we can boost your patience and understanding when something doesn't go as planned.  We also believe that the more you follow our protocol, the more likely your labs will arrive and be interpreted on time. 

1. You make an appointment to see a provider.
2. Our staff notifies the provider of your upcoming visit.
3. The provider decides which labs to order.
4. Our staff ensures your insurance company will cover it.
5. Our medical assistants place lab orders, after hearing from their provider. The vast majority of the time, the orders are electronica.  Occasionally, the M.A.'s will handwrite the order and give you a paper copy.  
6. Our staff notifies you that your orders have been entered. ***Do not go to the lab until you get word from our office that the orders have been sent to the lab.***
7. You go to the lab to have your blood drawn
8. Days, to weeks, are required to process the blood work
9. The results are faxed to us
10. The provider is notified of the result's arrival
11. Generally, results are discussed at the time of the appointment or sent via the portal. 

To Fast, or not to Fast... that is the question

Fasting = abstain from food or drinks, for 8-10 hours, prior to your blood draw.  You may have as much water (only) as you want.  You may also have black coffee/black tea as long as there are NO sweeteners or dairy/nut-milks. 

Unless you are told otherwise, you will NOT HAVE TO FAST (We hope this allows you to get your blood drawn done at a time that is most convenient for you, rather than first thing in the morning.  Note: New research has shown that performing NON-fasting routine labs will equally predict cholesterol values compared to fasting (1). )

You will need to fast In the rare case in which your provider needs to order labs that ARE sensitive to fasting.

TIMING

Please get your labs drawn, a minimum of 10 DAYS, prior to your appointment.

WHERE

Go to the most conveniently located Patient Service Center.  We order labs from either:

1.  Quest Diagnostics  https://questdirect.questdiagnostics.com     
2.  Labcorp  https://www.labcorp.com
3.  Scripps Health System

INSURANCE COVERAGE

At the end of the day, we do our best to enter the proper codes, but ultimately, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to determine if your insurance company will pay for each, individual, lab test.  You can get a copy of your lab order on your patient portal https://dominguezmd.mymedaccess.com/login , and call your insurance company ahead of time to avoid any surprises

1. Mora S, Chang CL, Moorthy MV, et al. Association of nonfasting vs fasting lipid levels with risk of major coronary events in the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial–lipid lowering arm. JAMA Intern Med. 2019; 179(7): 898-905.