MCCH Patient Authorize Direct Access Testing Legal Information/Disclaimer & Test Descriptions
INFORMATIONAL NATURE OF THE TESTS:
The Morrill County Community Hospital-Community Wellness Program, Clinical Laboratory Department provides Health Fair Blood Screening Tests and Patient Authorized Direct Access Laboratory Testing (DALT), including accompanying reference ranges (expected normal ranges), for your informational purposes only. Health Fair Screening Tests and/or Direct Access Laboratory Testing cannot substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Diagnosis and treatment of human illness should be based on your medical history, including your family's medical history, and a physical examination, along with your doctor's professional judgment and review of test results. It is therefore important for you to discuss your test results with your personal physician/health care provider. Physician judgment must remain central to the selection of diagnostic tests and therapy options of a specific patient's medical condition. Always seek the advice of your doctor if you have any questions, and before you stop, start or change any treatment plan, including the use of medication. If you do not have a personal physician, the Morrill County Hospital Clinic (308) 262-1755 will provide you with the list and phone numbers of local licensed health care providers, so you can contact a provider for medical advice, diagnosis and treatment.
LIMITATIONS OF LABORATORY TESTING:
Your laboratory tests are completed in a COLA and CLIA accredited laboratory, utilizing stringent quality-control standards. However, no guarantees are made with respect to accuracy, completeness, errors or omissions of content. In no event will MCCH, its' Medical and Administrative Laboratory Director, or testing personnel be liable for any decision made, action taken, or action omitted, based upon the information provided through this Health Fair and/or Patient Authorized Direct Access Laboratory Testing program. The tests provided are known to have a certain percentage of false negative results (disease is present, but lab value is normal), and false-positive results (no disease is present, but lab value is abnormal). Therefore, whether your lab results are normal or abnormal, you should consult with your physician/health care provider to determine the significance of your laboratory values.
NORMAL RESULTS:
A normal laboratory result does not exclude the presence of serious disease, such as cancer. People with cancer and other serious diseases can have normal laboratory values. Pregnant women can have negative pregnancy tests if the test is performed early in pregnancy. Up to one in four men with prostate cancer will have a normal PSA result. PSA testing should always be accompanied by a digital rectal examination, which is part of a regular examination by your personal physician.
ABNORMAL RESULTS:
Abnormal laboratory results do not necessarily mean that disease is present. Many variables, including diet, exercise, medications/supplements, and inflammatory conditions can affect laboratory values. In addition, the conditions to which blood or urine is subjected during and after collection (before being tested in the laboratory) can affect laboratory values.
LEGEND FOR INTERPRETING RESULTS ON REPORTS:
Laboratory results outside the expected "normal" reference range will be indicated as letters next to the numerical value result and in red color. "H" means high value, "L" means low value, "L!" means low critical value, "H!" means high critical value.
ROLE OF LABORATORY MEDICAL DIRECTOR AND LABORATORY PERSONNEL IN DIRECT ACCESS LABORATORY TESTING:
With Direct Access Laboratory Testing, the Laboratory Medical Director does not receive your results and does not review your results. There is no doctor-patient relationship between the Laboratory Medical Director and the Test Subject/Consumer requesting the tests. The Laboratory Medical Director will not be interpreting your results, acting on your results, or giving medical advice concerning the significance of your lab values. Likewise, laboratory personnel will not be interpreting your results. Results must be interpreted by your personal physician/health care provider. Your test results will only be sent to you, not to your physician. It is your responsibility to share the lab results with your physician/health care provider, and to schedule an appointment to discuss your results with your physician/health care provider.
CRITICAL VALUE RESULTS:
Certain laboratory values are considered "critical values" (or alert values). Critical value results are lab results which are considered life threatening and require urgent medical attention by a health care provider, such as your personal physician or an emergency room physician. If your test shows a "critical value," the laboratory staff will call you to give you the critical value result, and will recommend that you contact a physician/health care provider immediately. It is your responsibility to immediately report any critical value to your health care provider, or to a nearby emergency room doctor, if you do not have a provider. The Laboratory will not be calling your doctor with any critical values obtained. For purposes of communicating to you any "critical results," MCCH Clinical Laboratory may leave a voicemail message on your telephone answering machine (or cell phone), asking you to call the Lab immediately to obtain a critical result. In the event that MCCH Lab cannot reach you by leaving voicemail for you, MCCH Clinical Lab can call your listed "Emergency contact," to ask them to help us notify you to call the MCCH Clinical Lab immediately.
MAILING OF RESULTS:
Otherwise, laboratory results will be mailed to you within four days of specimen collection. Since results will be mailed to you at your address, you accept responsibility should someone else at that address access these results. If you do not receive your results within one week, it is your responsibility to call the MCCH Clinical Laboratory (308) 262-1616 Ext 237 to obtain your results.
PRIVACY:
MCCH respects your privacy. Personal information collected from customers will not, unless required by law, be shared with any third party. The primary reason we collect personal information is for identification purposes and to enable you to obtain your test results. We do not distribute unsolicited e-mails, nor, unless required by law, do we share the names of customers with any third party.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO DIRECT ACCESS LABORATORY TEST CONSUMERS: Laboratory tests cannot be used alone to detect illness, disease, cancer or to exclude the presence of illness, disease, cancer. All laboratory tests should be interpreted by a licensed medical provider, who will use your personal medical history (symptoms), family medical history, a physical examination, and imaging studies (if indicated) to assess whether or not an illness, disease, cancer is likely, or not likely, in your specific situation. It is your responsibility as a Direct Access Laboratory Test consumer to discuss your test results with your licensed medical provider. Further information on the usefulness of these tests is available on Internet websites such as "Lab Tests Online" (https://labtestsonline.org). The laboratory descriptions are for your use as guidelines only. All laboratory screening tests are subject to "false positive results" and "false negative results."
