| [quote=bEaUtIfUlbRuNeTtE]I got blood work done exactly 2 weeks ago (2/28/08) for HIV/AIDS and hepatitas. My doctor called me this past Tuesday (3/11/08) and said the results were in.
My question is, how long do blood work results take for HIV/AIDS and hepatitas? If I did have something, wouldn't the lab call my doctor immediately? I know blood work doesn't take that long to come back.
Please note that my docotrs office has a policy that if a patient were to get blood work done, the patient would need to schedule and appoinment (3 weeks after the visit) when the results come in so he/she could discuss it with their doctor, person to person. This is regardless if they have anything or not. I know that a lot of doctor's facilities send a letter or call the patient. I guess it has to do with privacy reasons.
Yes blood work does take that long to come back. I am a medical technologist and work in a lab which performs the type of work you are talking about. At a Doctor's office they don't have the equipment to run these kinds of tests so they must send the blood to a lab (such as LabCorp or to a local hospital lab). And tests such as a Hepatitis Panel aren't not run every day and all day. Usually these type of tests are only performed a time or two during the week because it is expensive to run the test. After the result from the lab is completely, the results are either faxed to the Doctors office or scanned into the lab system and THEN faxed to the doctor. As you see, this can be a long process.
Some doctor's call you, some send results (which I haven't heard of) and some make you have a follow-up visit. If you are unsatisfied with the way your physician is performing I suggest you find a doctor who suits you better. |