When you visit your primary care provider (PCP) for your annual physical or a new health concern, they may order diagnostic tests to help them better understand what’s happening in your body. Bloodwork, imaging, and other tests aren’t ordered at random; they’re valuable tools to help your doctor screen for disease, confirm a diagnosis, and monitor your health over time.
At MS Family Medicine Health Care, PC in Mineola, New York, our medical director, Dr. Michele Reed, believes that understanding why certain tests are ordered helps patients feel more informed, confident, and engaged in their care.
Diagnostic tests are exams or lab tests your PCP may order to gather information about your health and guide medical decision-making.
While a physical exam provides important clues, it doesn’t always tell the whole story. Sometimes we need information we can’t see or feel, or we may just need better insight.
These tests play a key role in wellness and preventive care, diagnosing medical conditions, and monitoring your health over time to evaluate how well treatments are working. As your primary care team, we use this information to determine the most appropriate next steps to support your overall health and well-being.
Blood tests are among the most frequently used diagnostic tools in primary care. Some of the most common blood tests we order include:
These tests provide information about organ function, nutrition status, and risk factors for chronic diseases. Many of these tests are part of your annual physical exam and help us track trends and identify potential health issues before they turn into serious medical problems.
Urine and stool tests are typically ordered when specific concerns arise, though a urinalysis is often part of your annual exam. A urinalysis can help screen for infection, kidney disease, and diabetes.
We also order urine tests to diagnose urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney problems.
Stool tests help us confirm or rule out gastrointestinal bleeding or infections. We may also order stool testing to screen for colon cancer as part of our preventive care plan.
Imaging tests, such as X-rays, ultrasounds, and MRIs, allow us to see what’s happening inside your body. Some imaging tests are part of routine health screenings, such as a mammogram for breast cancer and a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan for osteoporosis.
In some cases, imaging helps diagnose acute or specific concerns, such as fractures, pneumonia, or gallstones.
Depending on your symptoms and medical history, we may order other diagnostic tests to help us identify the cause of your health concern. If you come in with chest pain, we do an electrocardiogram (EKG) to evaluate heart rhythm and look for signs of a heart attack.
For breathing issues, we may request a pulmonary function test (PFT). A colonoscopy is a diagnostic test to screen for colon cancer or look for health issues involving your large intestine.
Diagnostic testing is one of the many tools we use to better understand your health and deliver personalized, targeted care.
If you want to learn more about diagnostic testing or would like to schedule a consultation, call us today or request an appointment online anytime. We’re here to help you take an active role in your health.
