“Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of patients”

— Sackett

About Laboratory Tests

The physician uses laboratory tests to help identify changes in your health condition before any symptoms occur; diagnose a disease or condition before you have symptoms; plan a specific treatment for a disease or condition, evaluate the patients response to a treatment, or monitor the course of a disease over time.

Laboratory tests are medical procedures that involve testing samples of blood, urine, or other tissues or substances in the body.

  1. Laboratories perform tests on the sample to see if it reacts to different substances.
  2. Lab tests show whether or not the results fall within normal ranges.
  3. The information helps doctors decide whether other tests or procedures are needed to make a diagnosis or to develop or revise a previous treatment plan.
  4. All laboratory tests are interpreted within the context of the patients overall health.