During National Medical Laboratory Week April 12 to April 16, hospitals nationwide will celebrate the scientists who provide valuable analysis on patients' blood, urine, and other bodily fluids. Patients see doctors and nurses, but they don't see the CLS professionals who perform the important tests that provide physicians the technical information needed to confirm a diagnosis.
Many patients even believe the physician orders and actually performs the laboratory tests.
These tests include everything from blood counts, cholesterol checks, pap smears, drug screens, sexually transmitted disease tests, and microbial cultures. It is estimated that one-third of the diagnostic information used by physicians and other health care providers to make a diagnosis is produced by laboratory testing.