Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing at T1D Exchange.
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Where do you most often go to get your routine bloodwork done? Cancel reply
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CPL lab
My local hospital. My blood is normally extracted by a nurse at my diabetes clinic and sent off to the hospital’s pathology department.
Other tests are normally carried out at my local hospital pathology department.
My insurance allows me to use Quest or LabCorp. They do not draw blood for labs at the hospital where my endo is although they have their own lab on site, but that would be a separate visit and not covered by insurance. My PCP will draw blood and send it out to Quest so it’s nice that I save time there.
My A1C is done in the endo’s office by his nurse, while lipid and other testing is done at a lab in the hospital/clinic.
I don’t mind waiting my turn at out patient labs provided by our local hospital in a seperate building. However, when having fasting labs, I want to get it over with fast so I can get home to take short acting insulin and eat breakfast. This past January, I left home in 9 degrees temps, dark outside and showed up for labs at 6:15am. Sugars were going up and when I got home it was still dark and cold outside. I drive alone and am getting concerned about fasting labs which I detest.
Agree!
I used to incovenience myself to get fasting blood samples and urine tests by lab at clinic. After giving bodily floods to lab tech, I would stay at clinic waiting room to immediately take morning shot and eat a breakfast I had packed. After years of this a doctor told me fasting was irrelevant to test results for HbA1c, platelet count, lipids, protein in urine, etc.
I’m in a supportive living facility to which a hematologist from a local lab comes in each week.
It depends. Endo – offsite lab. Primary Care – on site lab
I was due for bloodwork at a lab in my healthcare network in December but they were scheduling 10 days out at the time a I called for an appointment due to staff shortages. They’d also closed the lab nearest me to anyone but the OB/GYN patients who see their doctors there. Since I wouldn’t get the results before my next doctor appt, I skipped it. I’ll have to find a new place when I try again in the spring.
Okay, I’m spoiled. Inside my endo’s office, Quest has a room dedicated to only them. So, that’s where I get my blood drawn every 3 months before my endo appointment. Then, 2 days later I get an email saying my results are ready and I log on to the Quest website and see all my numbers. Then I receive another email after my insurance has paid and then I can look at the bill and pay online. I love Quest.
I arrange an appointment with a nurse from in home blood test services company. This is very convenient and the cost is reasonable.
Lab Corp is my preferred visit. They’re nearby, allowing walk ins and appointments both, pleasant professional staff. They email me results promptly.
Have had good luck using them.
Local hospital lab not associated with my Endocrinologist , who is independent, but rather my primary. This way I have all records on file for the wholevUC Davis system
Since 2020 my endocrinologist and I decided that unless I’m having an in person appointment with her, my routine lab work for T1D is done with my port draw at the cancer center. Saves travel times for me.
I use a satellite lab of Providence hospital, located not too far from my doctors office. I remember the good old days where I got to do the lab draws at the doctor’s office, but they don’t do that anymore. Now you have to go to a place and wait for a long time in a line.
I was getti g my blood work done at my Endo’s office. That is a 60 mile round trip. So I get blood taken and I get a call or email with results. For the last 6 months I have been going to the local hospital that’s 10 miles round trip. The problem is they are slow and my Endondoesent always get the results in time.
Our in-network hospital(s) have on-campus LabCorp labs. I sometimes get bloodwork & other tests done at my PCP’s office, but even though they also use LabCorp, it takes 7-14 times longer to get results than it does from the outpatient labs at the hospitals.
Blood draw is at endo’s office. I don’t know where they send it. Results are fast.
I go to a lab ln one of the HMO clinics. The tests are run at the associated hospital and results posted on MyChart patient portal within the same day or next. I make every effort to have the lab results available just before my scheduled endo appointments so we can discuss the results at the appointment. In the past, before I was covered under my spouse’s employer benefits, I relied on a variety of at home labs that I purchased on-line.
I call my doctor’s office ahead of time and ask to send an order to The local Quest. Most of my diabetes care appointments are telehealth so is easier this way.
I usually go to a local hospital’s outpatient lab
I’m with Kaiser, there are two clinics/labs near me.
For almost everything, a lab affiliated with the hospital where I see 90% of my docs. There are several conveniently located labs at neighborhood based practices of that hospital. I did start seeing a thyroid specialist at another hospital for my thyroid when I had some unusual results. Long story short, I have those drawn at her hospital or satellite site, but because the normal testing process no longer yields accurate results for me (something with antibodies?) the blood is sent to a Reference Lab… in the case of that hospital, they contract with the Mayo Clinic’s lab for that test. As I understand it there are some tests which are performed only or primarily/most reliably at such labs. (There is another large reference lab at the Cleveland Clinic for example. )
At my Endos. office and Quest for my Primary blood work.
I’m a member of Kaiser Permanente HMO which provides access to labs, radiology, etc. on site.
I’m also w/ KP. Samples taken by lab tech are sent to some central lab somewhere else. I get results online in just a day or two. Online I can compare results of each test from year to year. The results also tell me what limits are for abnormally high or low and what the test is about. In addition I can ask the doctor online if I have questions. Or, if something is abnormal, he’ll take the initiative to alert me.
At hospital next to my endocrinologist’s office as he can access it directly online. I have blood test done every 3-4 months when visiting my endocrinologist
At a lab in the hospital in my town. Not at my dr’s office or dr’s hospital because it is farther away from my home.