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Medical Forum / General / Laboratory / February 2005In US, Is Doctors Prescripton is mandatory for Routine Blood and Urine Tests
Hi, I am diagnosied with Proteinurea (Protein Loss in Urine) due to Iga Nephritis (due to Hypertension in Kidney) It started with 1400 mg/day - in 24 hours urine (2 years back) Now it came down to 500 mg/day on daily medication. In few months I will be moving from India to California,US Due to the pre-existing situation, my company insurance may not cover the treatment for Iga Nephritis. For every 4 months I need to undergo the below Blood and Urine Test: 1) Blood - Cretenine 2) Urine - Complete Urine Exam 3) Urine - 24 Hours Urine Protein Whether I can directly walk-in to any Lab, Pay Cash and Give the Blood/Urine Samples and get the reports without the intervention of Doctors.(as there is no insurance is involved as I am paying cash) If Doctors prescription is compulsory then will they accept the prescription given by my current Indian Nephrologist. How much it will cost (Approx.) when I pay cash for all the 3 tests thanks, Shashi It will be hard without insurance. You need a prescription from a US doctor for testing. The results need to be evaluated by a doctor and not just yourself as you will need treatment eventually. IgA nephropathy can lead to renal failure so it can be a problem without insurance. You are in a bind where you need insurance but companies will not want to can you on. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > thanks, > Shashi Shashi, I think there are coming into being, some private labs that will do testing without a physician's prescription. I can't be sure, but believe I've seen ads from private labs. -- Bruce > Shashi, I think there are coming into being, some private labs that will > do testing without a physician's prescription. I can't be sure, but > believe I've seen ads from private labs. > -- > Bruce There are federal and state laws mandating doctor ordered testing for all complex lab work. There are a few low complexity tests such as pregnancy tests, Hgb, cholesterol that can be bought over the counter and done without orders. I think it is misleading to suggest that you can obtain testing without a doctors order. What is being offered, as far as I can determine from above is that those labs who are doing such tests are in fact doing low complexity testing or is being done with their own doctors (200 or so). There is a monetary connection between the ordering doctor and the lab performing such testing. I want somebody to explain to me why a lab would charge less without a doctor order than with a doctors order and let the feds get involved with Medicare fraud or kick-backs to the doctors involved. There are very strict rules for private labs in not giving incentives to doctors for obtaining business. We could not even give them printers for the lab results generated. Hi Robert/Bruce Thanks for the replies. Even though I will be in US, I want to monitor my health condition closely with my Indian Nephrologist, who is guiding me from the last 2 years. With his prescribed medication the 24 hours protein loss came down from 1400 mg/day to 500 mg/day. So, I am planning to take the Indian Medicines for the treatment but as I am physically located in US , I need to send him the results for the "24 Hours Urine Protein Loss' once in 4 months, just to monitor the counts whether it is increasing/decreasing and accordingly he will alter the medicine (if required). I can get my medicines from India by my friends who are coming back after their vacation from India. The US customs will allow the medicines if we can show them the Indian Doctors prescription for the same. As the US doctors prescription is mandatory then anyone can please tell me how much I may have to pay by CASH for the below 1) Doctors Fees for giving me the prescription 2) Cost of : Blood - Cretenine 3) Cost of : Urine - Complete Urine Exam 4) Cost of : Urine - 24 Hours Urine Protein I also need a copy of the reports to send to my Indian Doctors for analysis. I am only looking into an Approximate figure (may not be the actuals amounts) Including the doctors fees will it be more than $200 - $300 when I pay by Cash ? (Doctor is only required to give me the prescription to undergo the above Lab tests based on my indian doctors reference letter of my health situation) Thanks in advance. regards, Shashi > Hi Robert/Bruce > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > 1) Doctors Fees for giving me the prescription I would go to a community clinic that allows you to pay based on ability and talk to the doctor there. You might also go to a University afiliated intern program where they charge less based on ability to pay. > 2) Cost of : Blood - Cretenine Blood creatinine runs about $30 more or less > 3) Cost of : Urine - Complete Urine Exam Runs about $ 20 > 4) Cost of : Urine - 24 Hours Urine Protein runs about $ 22 > I also need a copy of the reports to send to my Indian Doctors for > analysis. Have the lab give you a copy. > I am only looking into an Approximate figure (may not be the actuals > amounts) > > Including the doctors fees will it be more than $200 - $300 when I pay > by Cash ? There is an additonal $15 cost for having the blood drawn and other expenses. You might want to visit several doctor offices and ask how much the charge for a visit. > (Doctor is only required to give me the prescription to undergo the > above Lab > tests based on my indian doctors reference letter of my health > situation) Talk to the doctors and if they don't want to help then they should not really charge you anything or only a limited office visit. Make some calls and explain your situation and see what develops. > Thanks in advance. > > regards, > Shashi Thanks Robert for the valuable information. regards, Shashi > > Hi Robert/Bruce > > [quoted text clipped - 68 lines] > > regards, > > Shashi |
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