Laboratory Testing Web Site Serves Physicians, Patients

Patients don't always understand why their physician has ordered a particular laboratory test. Similarly, patients don't always appreciate the role of clinical testing in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Now a Web-based resource -- Lab Tests Online -- can help balance a patient's need for information and the time constraints of a busy medical practice.

The Academy's office lab proficiency testing program, AAFP-PT, recently joined 18 other organizations as a collaborating partner of Lab Tests Online, which was founded in 2001 and is expected to draw nearly 1.3 million visitors in the month of March.

The Web site serves up peer-reviewed educational information about a host of laboratory topics that range from blood banking to laboratory methods to descriptions of specific tests and the patient's role in preparing for those tests.

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry, or AACC, an association of professional laboratory scientists, holds primary responsibility for managing Lab Tests Online. Part of the AACC's mission is public education about laboratory testing with an overall goal of improving the health of the public.

Users can access the site and just browse or conduct a search by lab test name or by condition or disease. George Linzer, executive producer of Lab Tests Online, said the site initially was envisioned as a patient-education resource. Currently, however, up to 20 percent of the Web site's users are physicians who say they use the site to stay current on changes in the science of lab testing.

Physicians and patients will find the site user-friendly, said Linzer. "We don't want visitors to spend a lot of time on our Web site. The whole goal is to make it as easy as possible for patients (and physicians) to get information."

FPs are invited to order a free Lab Tests Online office display that includes a supply of take-home cards that list nearly 80 commonly ordered lab tests on one side and the Web site's description on the other. Linzer said physicians can quickly check off the tests they've ordered for a patient before handing the card to the patient or caregiver with instructions to go online for more information.

To order a display, call (800) 892-1400, Ext. 1753, or send an e-mail. All orders must include the physician's name, shipping address and phone number. Lab Tests Online picks up the shipping charge.