Lab results withheld until after physician review?

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I had blood drawn for a test eight days ago and the results are in at a clinic where I see a specialist physician. I'm anxious to review the test results, but I have been told over the phone that even if I come in and fill out a written request for the results, the test results will not be released until after the specialist reviews them and authorizes their release. This is a bit annoying because this specialist only works at this clinic twice a month and he likely has thousands of patients. I don't know how long it will take for him to review the results - my next appointment with this physician isn't until October.

For my personal and professional knowledge (I'm a new grad RN), is the practice of withholding these test results legal in California? I attempted to find the answer by Googling sections of the California Health and Safety Code, but so far I cannot find the answer. Does anyone know? Thanks for any help!

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Not in CA, but I've never been able to see lab results until after the physician has released them.

My thought is that they do this to allow them to comment on any abnormal values.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.

That is standard practice at any clinic I've worked at. It is to keep patients from getting bad results by just reading a piece of paper. Think if you had a positive HIV test or malignant biopsy result, a provider needs to sit down and discuss that with you face to face. Since clerical office staff can't interpret results or decide what warrants physician intervention it is a blanket rule that no results are released until authorized by the physician.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Yes, it's legal. Facilities have up to 30 days to release a patient's chart to them after the patient has requested their records through the proper channel (usually HIM).

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Hmm.

When have they told you the release of results through the clinic/physician might be expected?

I would think explaining expected wait times to patients would be utterly routine in the situation you describe, since many patients are likely to have your same concerns knowing that the physician is only on-site 2x/mo. If this clinic hasn't given you a reasonable time frame in which to expect the review-and-release process to have taken place, well, that's inappropriate. And probably causes darn near as much anxiety for some people as just getting a bad result.

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Thank you for the replies, folks. I was able to access the lab results electronically directly through Quest Labs. So I'm good. Thanks all!

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

On a side note: Staff at Wrongway Regional Medical Center are forbidden to access their own lab results via computer. Administration says to do so is a HIPAA violation.

I don't understand that but oh well.

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On a side note: Staff at Wrongway Regional Medical Center are forbidden to access their own lab results via computer. Administration says to do so is a HIPAA violation.

I don't understand that but oh well.

This is good to be aware of but I don't think it applies in this case. I accessed my own personal Quest Labs account, not my electronic health record at the clinic.

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Thank you for the replies, folks. I was able to access the lab results electronically directly through Quest Labs. So I'm good. Thanks all!

Wrote out a post recommending that very thing since that's what I do if I want to receive lab results (request them from the facility that performed the test) but then erased it because I wasn't sure if it was specific to my little corner of the world/situation.

Rationale or not, the practice of which you speak isn't doing themselves any favors in the customer service department.

Glad you got your results.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Best wishes.

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