Why does it take so long to get test results from things like blood work when you go to the emergency room at a hospital
In: Biology
Generally speaking, it doesn’t.
Turn-around times for most hospital labs dealing with high throughput urgent areas like the emergency room, are usually around an hour for most tests. This of course, doesn’t factor in how long it takes the nurse to get the sample to us, or how many other patients the doctor has to deal with before getting back to you.
There’s a misconception that the lab is responsible for these delays, because medical staff like to use us as a scapegoat, if they mess up a sample, or they’re busy with higher priority patients, it’s much easier for them to just tell you the lab lost or delayed your sample, knowing you can’t just waltz in here and confront us.
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