You’ve passed the test

Confused? Just ask for clarification!

Here, 'PPM' - Private Practice Manager offers support for the backbone of your practice with this essential advice lifeline for you, your secretary or admin professional. The advice is from our experienced management team and the question comes from one of our clients in private practice. This is the second in a series of blog posts aiming to help improve the relationship between consultants and their admin teams. 

 Q:  I am new to being a medical secretary but have many years’ experience in the commercial world. I am learning something new every day but feel a bit out of my depth, because I have been getting all the test results together, pinning them to the notes and giving them all to the consultant, but she wants me to only pin them to the notes if there is anything wrong with the results. Frankly, I don’t know the difference. How do I tell?

A:  I would say the fact she has asked you to distinguish between them means she has every confidence in your ability to pick it up, so take heart. The safety net for you is that you must still give her all of the results, regardless of what they show, as it will always be the doctor’s responsibility to view and interpret the test results.

Most pathology labs lay out their test results very clearly these days and they often include a thing called normal range. If something is outside of the normal range, they will usually denote this using a different colour or an asterisk or other such mark. This is an indicator that a result might be abnormal. The second thing to look out for is the word ‘positive’. This can be misleading because, normally, the word ‘positive’ means good or bright, but in pathological terms, it means something significant has been found.To give an example, if the consultant
sends a swab off to the laboratory for testing and it comes back ‘positive’, this means it has grown something which is either bacterial or viral. In genetics, a positive result can mean someone is carrying a faulty gene. In gynaecology, a positive smear test indicates abnormal cells in the cervix.

So, in the first instance, any results with the word ‘positive’ should go to the top of the pile with the notes. Anything outside of normal range or with an asterisk,should go after these. When you get a chance, sit down with your consultant and ask her for examples of what results she wants to see urgently. She clearly has faith in you, so take courage.

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