Get the results of your medical tests

If you don't hear from your doctor about the results of blood tests or cancer screenings, don't assume everything's OK. Research suggests that patients aren't told about one of every 14 abnormal test results, including routine blood workups, mammograms, Pap smears, and fecal occult blood tests, according to a study in the June 22, 2009, Archives of Internal Medicine.

"You really shouldn't assume that no news is good news," says lead author Lawrence Casalino, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Instead, he says, patients "should contact the physician's office and ask for the results."

His team reviewed the records of 5,434 randomly selected patients ages 50 to 69 from 23 primary-care practices in various cities. There were 1,889 clinically significant abnormal results recorded, and the researchers found that doctors failed to inform patients in 117 cases and did not document whether they'd informed patients in another 18 cases. That's a failure rate of more than 7 percent. A major reason is there are no national standards for communicating test results to patients, Casalino said.

Bottom line

Even if your doctor has a good track record of keeping you informed, do your part. Write down what tests are being done, why they're being done, and when results will be ready, and follow up if you don't hear from the doctor at the expected time..