Test results often arrive as a page of numbers, ranges and flags — sometimes in your patient portal before anyone has talked you through them. This guide does not explain what any value means; that depends on you, your history and why the test was ordered, and it is your clinician’s job to put it in context. What it gives you is the questions that turn a report into a useful conversation.
That study is from 2009, and portals have changed how results reach patients: in 2024, 92% of people who were encouraged by their clinician to use their portal, and used it, viewed test results there.[4] But seeing a result is not the same as understanding it, and the lesson still holds: don’t assume that no news is good news.
Before the test
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality suggests starting before the test is even done.[2]
- What is this test for, and what question are we trying to answer?
- How do I prepare, and how will it feel?
- When will I get the results, and how — a call, a portal message or a visit?
- Who should I contact if I haven’t heard by then?
When the results arrive
- What do these results mean for me specifically, given my health and why we ordered the test?
- Is anything outside the reference range, and does it matter in my case?
- How do these compare with my previous results, if I have had this test before?
- Could anything have affected the result — a medicine, the time of day, something I ate, recent illness?
- Is any part of the result uncertain or borderline?
About what happens next
- Do I need any further tests, or a repeat of this one, and when?
- Does this change my treatment or anything I should be doing?
- Should I see a specialist about this?
- Is there anything I should watch for in the meantime, and when should I call you about it?
- When should this test be done again in the future?
Making sure you understand
- Can you explain that another way, or write it down for me?
- Can I have a copy of the full report, including the reference ranges?
- Where can I read reliable information about this test?
“Patients who ask questions and make sure they understand the answers tend to get more timely, accurate diagnoses and have better outcomes.”
If you see the result before you’ve talked to anyone
A flagged value can be alarming, and a reference range is not a verdict: what is expected for you depends on things the report doesn’t show. Write down your questions, and send them through the portal or call the office. If you were told when to expect a call and it hasn’t come, follow up. AHRQ’s list of questions every patient should know starts with two that apply here: “What is the test for?” and “When will I get the results?”[3]
Keep a copy of every report with the date, and write down what your clinician said about it. Over time, that becomes the history a new clinician will want to see; the guide to organizing medical records explains a simple way to file it. If you feel a concerning result was brushed aside, the guide to what to do when a doctor dismisses your symptoms covers next steps.
Sources
- Casalino LP, Dunham D, Chin MH, et al. Archives of Internal Medicine 2009;169(12):1123–1129. Frequency of failure to inform patients of clinically significant outpatient test results.
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Be More Engaged in Your Healthcare: Tips for Patients.
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The 10 Questions You Should Know.
- Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Individuals’ Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2024 (Data Brief No. 77).