What is a blood test?

A blood test is the taking of a blood sample from your body.

Finger stick test
A mini-test can be done by a finger stick (a needle is used to make a hole in your finger – ouch! – and the resulting drop of blood is placed on a slide.  This slide with the small drop of blood can be placed in a portable small analyzer and be tested for blood lipids and glucose.

Venipuncture test
If your doctor, or a Healics health screen as ordered by an employer, wants to do a more complete analysis of your blood, then the sample must be taken from your arm.  A needle is used to make a hole in your skin and reach a blood vessel.  Your body’s blood pressure then fills a tube of blood attached to the needle.  This sample is shortly thereafter spun down by centrifuge to separate the serum from the blood and sent to a laboratory for analysis.  The laboratory will use sophisticated instruments to analyze the sample.

Laboratory testing
If your blood sample is taken by your doctor then he or she may have a lab in their office or a local laboratory that they use.  A more typical situation is where your doctor (or Healics) will send the sample to a large professional lab for testing.  Either way, the only tests to be done are the ones that are ordered at the time the sample is taken.  Unfortunately, all laboratory tests don’t come out the same.  Different instruments may show different results.  However, a “certified” laboratory will have periodic testing done by national auditing organizations that regularly test for standard results.

Clinical Reference Laboratory
Healics uses CRL for all of its testing nationwide.  Click here to see CRL’s certifications.  Any other laboratory that tests your blood should have the same national certifications.

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