![]() What others are doing: Doctors and nurses are also dissatisfied with their systems’ level of failure managing outpatient test results, perhaps as much as patients are. Despite his neurosurgeon’s office mishandling of the information, a call could have revealed the important information in the missing report. Patrick Sheridan got the initial biopsy results but didn’t know that there would be a more detailed follow-up. If you don’t hear from the doctor or see the results posted in your patient portal within a day or two after the due date, call them. For example: 24-hour urine test, conducted at home, dropped off at lab, office will call if results are abnormal, results expected, call on if you don’t get results before. We recommend marking this info in your calendar. Results from an imaging test can be in the doctor’s hands as soon as the next day while cultures can take a week or more. There can be different timelines for different types of tests, so you need to ask about each one. Write down the answers for every test you are given, when it was done, how the results will be communicated, and when the results are due. In November 2019’s column, we suggested seven essential questions when tests are ordered. Ask if they have one and how you can join. Many specialty practices still aren’t offering them. Yours may even allow you to make appointments or share information with other medical practices. You can log in to see and print your test results, email general questions to the doctor, double-check that your health history information is correct, and update incorrect or old information. Most primary care practices now have patient portals, which are online websites with high security. Sometimes, the patient and the healthcare professional don’t know there’s a test report they haven’t seen. However, as Patrick Sheridan’s story demonstrates, there is no guarantee. Each person who handles your test samples and results has a process to follow to make certain that the information gets to the doctor and ultimately to the patient. Closing the loop means to complete the testing process correctly, so that everyone who needs to know what the tests show has the information to act on. It is surprisingly common for healthcare professionals –– and the systems and organizations that are supposed to serve them –– to fail at following up on essential test results. You can’t be treated for a health condition no one knows you have. With so many opportunities for error, what should you watch for and what can you do about it? As we covered in an earlier column, ask “What do I need to do to prepare for this test?” Many tests are impacted when you don’t follow the instructions to the letter. As a patient, you have an important role to play starting with preparing for every test. With every handoff, in every step, there is the possibility of an error in the care and handling of your sample or the analysis of your test. Think of medical testing as a relay race of sorts with your test sample passing from one person to another. Though the vast majority of tests are conducted correctly, and reported quickly and accurately to the healthcare professional and the patient, understanding how the testing process can and does go wrong can give you an opportunity to protect yourself. It can be an essential step in getting properly diagnosed. Medical testing should only happen after a complete history is taken and a physical exam is given. Despite enduring difficult and unnecessary treatment and surgery, today Sarah is focused on helping prevent this kind of error for others. The lab’s official statement blamed “human error” for misdiagnosing a cancer-free patient with invasive cancer. That’s when she learned she never actually had breast cancer. Sarah Boyle was just 25 when she had months of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy for her invasive breast cancer. ![]() It was too late and Pat died when he was 45. Six months later, when his pain returned, Pat and his doctor learned that the unseen test results noted he had an aggressive, malignant sarcoma requiring urgent treatment. However, no one at the neurosurgeon’s office was aware that corrected test reports were neither seen by the surgeon nor communicated to Pat. The initial report on the tumor removed from his spine said it was benign. Patrick Sheridan was relieved to hear he didn’t have cancer.
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