Overview
Health care providers often need to have one or more medical tests done as part of treating their patients. Some of these tests are routine—to see if problems are developing before symptoms show up. Other types of tests are needed if you are already having symptoms or signs that could mean an illness.
In general, medical tests come under one of four types:
- Blood tests
- Urine tests
- X-ray and related tests
- Others.
Most medical tests cause little or no pain and take only a short time, although some can be uncomfortable. What can take time, though, is waiting for the lab to perform the test and for a specialist to interpret the results. So, sometimes, you will need to try to be patient while waiting to learn about your tests.
Medical testing is useful for several reasons:
- To make a diagnosis. Certain laboratory results may help a medical provider identify what specific illness a patient may have.
- To monitor disease progression. Certain tests are routinely used to follow the progress of a medical condition.
- To make treatment decisions. Certain tests help medical providers decide on a particular treatment for a patient’s medical problem.