Lab orders without doctor

[liveaboard15 1,292]

Just wanted to give this resource to anyone who may need it. For the past year i been ordering my own blood test. Some are just pure curiosity that i have had done. I have had my cholesterol checked, Blood count checked, Even checked for tumor markers. Some of us are self pay and or dont have insurance. So the way this website works is you pick out a blood test you want to get done, You buy it and you print out your lab orders and go to the lab. Its only for Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp. and you show up, give them the order and get your results online. If something comes back out of range then you can go see a doctor. Like last couple days my legs have been in pain and i worried about a possible blood clot. So i ordered a D Dimer Blood test which detects if the body is breaking up blood clots. I ordered 2 days ago, Went yesterday and i should have my results today or tomorrow. Cant use insurance so if you have insurance and want them to cover it you would have to go thru your doctor and get a lab order. https://walkinlab.zinrelo.com/ref/WAL2I4KV

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

Don’t need it now but good to know. Thanks.

[acopas 104]

LabCorp will let you order tests on their website without paying a third party for the order. If it’s something they allow you to self order it maybe easier that way.

[liveaboard15 1,292]

12 minutes ago, acopas said:

LabCorp will let you order tests on their website without paying a third party for the order. If it’s something they allow you to self order it maybe easier that way.

yup. and Quest diagnostics as well has their own lab test. they have like 40ish test. So the difference with this website i linked called walk in labs. they have thousands of test. Beyond what quest or labcorp offer from their website. One test i wanted last year was a triponin test (indicates possible heart attack or heart damage) and the test is from lab corp and i asked lab corp if i could buy the test and they said not directly thru them. So i got it from one of those websites like walk in labs and got the test done.

[Spinoza 1,126]

Oh dear - this would be my worst nightmare, LOL. It's not the availability or the cost of the tests that would bother me, it's their interpretation. What do you do if the result is 1% above the normal range, or 10%, or 18.5%? Or the same amount below? What if you got the result on a Friday night - is it safe to wait until Monday morning to phone your doctor to discuss or could it kill you over the weekend? And a million other variables. I just could not do this - I think you need a clinician both to know what is appropriate to order in the first place and to know what the significance is if the result isn't slap bang in the middle of the normal range. Having said that I know it's horses for courses and you may have better than average medical knowledge - good luck with your results!

[liveaboard15 1,292]

19 minutes ago, Spinoza said:

Oh dear - this would be my worst nightmare, LOL. It's not the availability or the cost of the tests that would bother me, it's their interpretation. What do you do if the result is 1% above the normal range, or 10%, or 18.5%? Or the same amount below? What if you got the result on a Friday night - is it safe to wait until Monday morning to phone your doctor to discuss or could it kill you over the weekend? And a million other variables. I just could not do this - I think you need a clinician both to know what is appropriate to order in the first place and to know what the significance is if the result isn't slap bang in the middle of the normal range. Having said that I know it's horses for courses and you may have better than average medical knowledge - good luck with your results!

Its the same test that are ordered by a doctor. you simply get the results. All of my test i have ever gotten even from my gastric sleeve pre op testing and primary have all been done at Quest diagnostics and i always get those results before i even see the doctor for the follow up because the results are posted on quest diagnostics website when you sign up for an account. last year my GI Doctor ordered a few test for me. The follow up was like a month to review results. I got the results in my email within 48 hours lol. Of course if something comes back that worries you you could always go to a urgent care or ER. Now if you order test directly thru quest diagnostics (they have like 50ish test) and a test comes back out of range. One of their physicians do call you to discuss it which i thought was great. 2 years ago i ordered a complete blood panel, cholesterol ect... and my cholesterol came back very high and they called to discuss it. There are even websites where you can order your own imaging. Xray, CT Scan, MRI ect.. but you do speak to a doctor on the phone and its up to them. I did it last year for a MRI of my chest. Cost me $40 to get the imaging order. The MRI came up good. Only thing it found was a small cyst in my chest.

Edited May 9, 2022 by liveaboard15

[Arabesque 6,442]

7 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Don’t need it now but good to know. Thanks.

Why don’t you need lab work done anymore? I’m three years (well will be on Friday) & I still have them done about every three months. I see my surgeon’s colleague In two weeks & I have a blood test scheduled for next week. Don’t know how long this will continue though or if it will become less frequent. Maybe it’s just different surgeons & programs around the world.

Have to admit I am pleased I do have them frequently. It’s how we picked up my Protein malabsorption issue after my gall removal last year & picked up a seasonal drop in my Vitamin D levels in winter (level still ok just something to be aware of).

PS - Many blood tests are covered by our public health system (Medicare) in Australia so I haven’t had to pay for any of mine.

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

4 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

Why don’t you need lab work done anymore? I’m three years (well will be on Friday) & I still have them done about every three months. I see my surgeon’s colleague In two weeks & I have a blood test scheduled for next week. Don’t know how long this will continue though or if it will become less frequent. Maybe it’s just different surgeons & programs around the world.

Have to admit I am pleased I do have them frequently. It’s how we picked up my Protein malabsorption issue after my gall removal last year & picked up a seasonal drop in my Vitamin D levels in winter (level still ok just something to be aware of).

PS - Many blood tests are covered by our public health system (Medicare) in Australia so I haven’t had to pay for any of mine.

Ooh I do still get labs done. I will annually forever as far as I know. I just go through my family doctor ordering them and my insurance pays the majority of the tests so I don’t need to pay a third party website to order them especially since that means insurance won’t cover the tests.

[Arabesque 6,442]

Oh, ok. That makes sense. I think my GP will take over ordering tests for me too when my regular surgeon visits end or become less frequent. While I was losing she was ordering them as well as my surgeon so I was having blood taken about every 6weeks. Felt like a pin cushion but was pleased they both were being thorough.

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

1 hour ago, Arabesque said:

Oh, ok. That makes sense. I think my GP will take over ordering tests for me too when my regular surgeon visits end or become less frequent. While I was losing she was ordering them as well as my surgeon so I was having blood taken about every 6weeks. Felt like a pin cushion but was pleased they both were being thorough.

Ooh wow you did them very often. Yea I was required every 90 days for my first year by my surgeon and now I will still see the surgeon annually, but if you have a family doctor they ask you to have them order your labs after that first year. Must be nice that they still get paid for a visit every year but don’t have to worry about labs anymore. Really, assuming I maintain my weight, I don’t see that I will need anything from them but they need to record my weight for their statistics yet I have to pay them. If I didn’t have insurance I probably wouldn’t go at this point but I think it still may help me with accountability to some degree.

[emilygrace 5]

This is rather a slippery slope. Ordering a troponin or Ddimer is not something that should be done without the knowledge of what they mean. Ddimer and troponin can both be elevated for MANY reasons and are not by themselves indicators of either clots or heart attacks. If you're worried, you'd be better to go to a doc. I do find these services helpful to order Vitamin labs and stuff that is easy to track and have on hand before going to routine doc visits though.

[liveaboard15 1,292]

On 6/11/2022 at 12:50 PM, emilygrace said:

This is rather a slippery slope. Ordering a troponin or Ddimer is not something that should be done without the knowledge of what they mean. Ddimer and troponin can both be elevated for MANY reasons and are not by themselves indicators of either clots or heart attacks. If you're worried, you'd be better to go to a doc. I do find these services helpful to order Vitamin labs and stuff that is easy to track and have on hand before going to routine doc visits though.

i disagree... The time waiting to see a doctor... getting a lab order and getting the results (which typically you wont get them, you will get them during a follow up) sometimes is too long. Doing it my way i can order my own test, get the results in a day or two and if something is out of range (elevated) I can make an appointment with my primary to go over the results Which i have a couple times. If the doctor says its nothing to worry about, Great... If they think its something to worry about we can move forward from there. As for without knowlege of what they mean... That is what the internet is for... doing research. Am i a medical student or doctor, Nope... Do i know more or even close to a med student or doctor, Not a chance. But i can at least learn a bit. And all it takes is a vial or two of blood which is no big deal. Lets say that D Dimer test came back out of range... My next step would have been a ultrasound of the vein in my legs to look for clots. Elevated triponin test then next step for many would be a nuclear scan with a Gamma Camera (obviously those would be ordered by a doctor if they felt it was necessary)

[Timothy Nutting 0]

On 5/8/2022 at 11:07 PM, liveaboard15 said:

Just wanted to give this resource to anyone who may need it. For the past year i been ordering my own blood test. Some are just pure curiosity that i have had done. I have had my cholesterol checked, Blood count checked, Even checked for tumor markers. Some of us are self pay and or dont have insurance. So the way this website works is you pick out a blood test you want to get done, You buy it and you print out your lab orders and go to the lab. Its only for Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp. Besides this, I want to recommend a source that I use myself. Often, I fail to study some material and search for sources where I could get this, until this https://eduzaurus.com/ seems to me the best of all, besides it is absolutely free, and you can find a lot of useful information for any subject, I made this discovery not long ago, and I am very sorry for not using this in the past, that's why I show it to you too so you don't miss such a chance to be more effective in all areas related to writing and reading. a lab order. https://walkinlab.zinrelo.com/ref/WAL2I4KV

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Edited August 11, 2022 by Timothy Nutting