Specialty Laboratory Testing
Laboratory test kits are financially unprofitable and time-consuming for the clinic, but the right test at the right time progresses treatment goals.
The clinic uses specialty laboratories where the resulting information might speed up diagnosis and treatment e.g. Doctors Data, Nutripath, Fitgenes, FxMed, The Great Plains Laboratory, CompoundLabs, EMLab.
Almost all health practitioners work in good faith on behalf of their patients, but health is complex and care in scrutinizing the relevance of practitioner qualifications and experience is time well spent.
There is a simple question that can be asked to avoid some of the pitfalls with expensive laboratory tests.
Does your practitioner have legitimate qualifications and the relevant experience to recommend the right test, then provide interpretation, then access all the treatment options?
All of this needs to be worked out and the facilities need to be in place before testing.
The clinic has seen new clients arrive with expensive lab test results serving no useful purpose, with inadequate interpretation of results or consideration given to treatment.
Where Cindy has to pickup from a previous practitioner, there will likely be duplication of effort and different tests needed to ensure the regulatory duty of care is provided.
Treatment
Once results are interpreted, there are various treatment options:
- pharmaceutical prescriptions may be cheap and effective when subsidized
- other times the advantages of nutritional & herbal treatments outweigh cost considerations
- often a balanced mix of both delivers the best results
Practitioners who are formally qualified with an acknowledged authority in the use of nutritional and herbal therapies are listed on these sites: ACNEM, Toxic Mould, A5M and A4M.
A clinician/practitioner cannot prescribe pharmaceuticals or refer to specialists in New Zealand unless they are listed here: MCNZ.
Another easy way to tell whether your practitioner can provide treatment prescriptions is whether there are client testimonials or a supplement shopping cart on the website (illegal for a prescribing doctor).
Prescribing is highly regulated and most prescribing doctors work with guideline reference ranges oriented towards acute and emergency medicine and aren’t familiar with specialty laboratory testing.
As an unfunded independent prescribing doctor, Cindy is in a position to use specialty lab testing with the latest reference ranges and all treatments.
Please note:
- To protect against diagnoses like cancer falling between the treatment cracks, prescribing doctors are liable if they don’t provide duty of care followup for lab test results. Hence clients requesting a test kit need to book and attend an appointment to review results. This issue is serious for prescribing doctors. Clients cancelling a followup to review test results will terminate the clinical relationship.
- The clinic has occasionally observed the misconception that a prescribing doctor will rubber-stamp an unfamiliar treatment plan. That is not correct; prescribing doctors are liable for anything that goes wrong. Independent prescribing doctors in particular need to be very careful. In the best interest of clients and clinical ethics, a relationship should be formed between clinicians prior to a treatment plan being presented to a prescribing doctor.
- While some clients have no privacy concerns, the authorities hold independent prescribing doctors liable for data privacy complaints regardless, so the secure portal must be used for requests and results.
Lab Testing Directions
Lab collection centers for testing are available throughout New Zealand e.g. https://www.sclabs.co.nz/
Please note:
- There are instructions in the kit and notes from Cindy on the wellness plan (in the lab test section)
- Where applicable, please fill out the form in the kit with your name etc before going to the lab
- There may be a drawing fee payable at the lab. Please take all your lab test forms at the same time, so there is only 1 drawing fee
- Where there is no fasting, nonetheless in general please stop all supplements for 12-24 hours before the sample is taken
- Be warm and hydrated with water before you go, but don’t exercise or pump your hands to raise veins as that may alter the sample
- For some tests, samples get spun e.g. at Nelson hospital on a Monday or Tuesday morning only; allow 20-60 minutes
- Test kit fees include courier delivery within New Zealand and Stripe transaction fees.