Lab Services

Lab Services Overview

Newland Medical Associates laboratories are dedicated to providing high quality, cost effective laboratory services through clinical expertise and patient focused support services.

Newland Medical Associates has on-site laboratory services to help our physicians rapidly and accurately assess your health care needs. Our laboratories are modern, computerized facilities with state-of-the-art instrumentation. We provide a comprehensive range of diagnostic services, from the complete blood count to specialized processing. As an patient, you can benefit from our compassionate, experienced phlebotomy employees. The lab is staffed by highly trained medical laboratory technicians.

Rapid availability of test results is another valuable service. When needed, many of the critical blood tests your doctor has ordered can be processed immediately in the clinic lab to expedite diagnosis and treatment.

Newland Medical Associates Laboratories maintain unsurpassed quality and performance standards so that you can be assured of accurate, reliable test results. Our clinical and technical quality is maintained through our participation in state and national proficiency and licensure programs.

Test Information

CBC – Complete Blood Count

This test is usually ordered as part of a routine medical exam. The CBC monitors the cellular elements in your blood such as the infection fighting white blood cells (WBC), the oxygen carrying red blood cells (RBC), and platelets, which aid in the clotting process. It also gives a measure of hemoglobin (HGB) the actual iron binding material inside the RBC.

To the oncology patient the CBC is a very important test. It is the direct reflection of what is happening in the bone marrow. Much of the treatment that a cancer patient receives has an impact on the bone marrow, which in turn is reflected in the CBC. The CBC is used not only to monitor treatment effects. It is used to monitor disease states such as the several forms of leukemia, anemia, and hereditary blood disorders.

WBC – White Blood Count

This test is a part of a CBC and is a count of the actual number of white blood cells per volume of blood. The WBC differential looks at the types of white blood cells present. There are five different types of white blood cells, each with its own function in protecting us from infection. The differential classifies a person’s WBCs into each type: neutrophils, which fight bacterial infection (also known as segs, or grans), lymphocytes, the cells of the immune system which fight viral infections, monocytes, the cells that are on garbage detail that help tidy up the blood and tissues, and the eosinophils and basophils that respond to allergies.

Platelet Count

This test is often a part of the CBC. It is ordered when a patient has unexplained bruises or takes a long time to stop bleeding from a small cut or wound. Chemotherapy and some certain drugs can cause a decreased in the platelet count. Patients at risk for bleeding are monitored closely to maintain their platelet count at an acceptable level.

CA-125

This test is used to monitor therapy during treatment for ovarian cancer. It is also useful to monitor possible disease progression after treatment is complete. It may also be used to follow high-risk women who have a family history of ovarian cancer but who do not yet have the disease.

CA-27-29

This test is used to monitor the response to treatment for breast cancer. It is also useful to monitor for recurrence of breast cancer after diagnosis and initial therapy.

Iron Tests

Iron is needed to help form red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. Iron is an important part of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that binds to oxygen in the lungs and then releases it as blood flows to other parts of the body. Low iron levels can lead to anemia, in which the body does not have enough red blood cells or hemoglobin. Other conditions, some inherited, can cause you to have too much iron in your blood. This too needs to be monitored because of the strain it can put on the liver.

PSA

The American Cancer Society recommends that this test be performed on men beginning at age 50 on an annual basis. It is used to confirm a diagnosis of prostate cancer and to watch for recurrence of prostate cancer after diagnosis and initial therapy.

Common Lab Questions

Since larger needles hurt more, why don’t you always use the smallest needle possible?

Small needles cause pressure changes in the collecting tubes and may cause hemolysis or damage to the red cells. This hemolysis can cause a specimen to be unacceptable or worse yet, when it is small enough to get by, will cause incorrect answers. So, the standard size needles became standard because they cause the least amount of trauma to the patient while giving the laboratory an acceptable specimen. There is no actual difference in the bore size of a butterfly versus a straight needle. Butterflies are more convenient to use for small difficult veins.

Why does everyone keep asking for my date of birth?

Your birthday is only one of the ways we use identify you. We adhere to very strict patient identification standards to make sure that there are no mix-ups when it comes to your blood specimens.

How do I get the results of the tests my doctor ordered?

Some of your lab test results may be available before you leave the office. You can ask your nurse or physician for those results. For other test results, you may call the office several days after your blood is drawn to ask the nurse about your results. Do not call the laboratory for results because we are not allowed to give out this information.

Can I get a copy of my results?

You may ask the person drawing your blood for a copy of the results. If the test results will be available before you leave the clinic, you may have a copy of the result. For tests completed after you leave, you will need to sign an authorization form if you want them sent to you.

Another one of my doctors has ordered lab work in addition to what has been ordered at Newland Medical Associates. Can I get those done here also?

If you have a prescription from the other physician, we may be able to perform this testing. The prescription must have the physician’s name, address, phone number and a medically appropriate diagnosis code. (However this can only be done when you are scheduled for blood work from one of our doctors that same day. In other words we can not draw blood for another doctor only.)

Why can’t I just go to the lab to have a test done without seeing a doctor?

Each test requires a physician’s order to assure appropriate tests are done under the appropriate circumstances. This helps to avoid wasteful testing and assures that there is a single physician ultimately responsible to follow-up on that test result.