Getting the best treatment for illness and injury starts with getting a fast and reliable diagnosis. In the emergency room, many diagnoses are aided by laboratory tests. According to the CDC, 70% of today’s medical decisions depend on laboratory test results.
When You Might Need Laboratory Testing
Many, if not most, emergency room visitors will need laboratory testing to make a diagnosis. Correctly diagnosing a patient is more reliable with more accurate information, so laboratory tests are run to give healthcare providers more information about a patient’s status.
Laboratory tests measure levels of chemical components in body fluids and tissues. Their use is common in diagnosing viruses and bacterial infection, heart problems, kidney issues, blood clots, and other abnormalities that are causing symptoms to occur.
Patients who don’t receive laboratory testing often need radiology testing to diagnose their problem. Radiology tests are visual tests, so their use is more common with trauma, organ injuries, broken bones, and other internal injuries.
Laboratory Testing at Ally Medical ER
Ally Medical ERs are equipped with the most commonly used laboratory tests needed to diagnose illness and injury. Check out the list below to see what laboratory tests Ally Medical offers and the time it usually takes to get results back.
Test | What it’s checking/ measuring | How long it takes to get results |
Troponin | Measures cardiac enzyme called Troponin, can indicate a cardiac tissue damage | 20 minutes |
CMP, LFT, BMP | Checks liver function, kidney functions, blood glucose, and potassium levels | 20 minutes |
CBC | Checks for White Blood Cells (Infections), Red Blood Cells (Anemia), and platelets (ability to clot) | 15 minutes |
D-dimer | Can sometimes indicate a blood clot in the body when the results are elevated | 20 minutes |
Urinalysis | Checks for infection, blood, or glucose in urine | 5 minutes |
Flu, COVID, RSV | Checks for influenza A and B, COVID, and RSV virus | 20 minutes |
Strep | Checks for a strep infection | 8 minutes |
PCR for COVID | Highly accurate check for COVID virus | 45 minutes |
Respiratory panel | Determines if you have a viral or bacterial infection that is in your respiratory track | 45 minutes to 1 hour |
GI panel | Detects salmonella, e-coli, and many other viruses, bacteria, and parasites in you gut | About 1 hour |
Coagulation/ PT/ INR | Checks how fast your blood is clotting | 5 minutes |
STD test | Checks for sexually transmitted infections | A few minutes to a few days depending on what STIs are being tested for |
Pregnancy test | Checks for signs pregnancy (positive hormones levels) and can measure the level | A few minutes for urine tests, a few hours for blood tests |
For more information, watch our segment about laboratory testing on KXAN here. And, if you have any further questions about our laboratory testing services at Ally Medical ER, please call any of our locations to discuss further.
Resources
https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/strengthening-clinical-labs.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/24508-blood-tests
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/17893-urinalysis