Do you expect your doctor (the office) to call you if there is a new development in your test results?

Or, is alerting you that your results are available on the doctor’s portal sufficient? The alert has no indication of what the results say.

Is it enough that you have a follow up appointment to your tests? What if you need to postpone your appointment, because something changes in your schedule?

Where I live a lot of doctors don’t call, which I think is negligent, but maybe I am behind the times. I think if something is significant in a test result that requires a change in medication, need an appointment with a specialist, a follow up for treatment, or significant enough that it might cause a patient to finally crack down and take on some better habits, that the doctor should call and not just wait for the patient to show up in their office again.

Some examples would be cholesterol of 330, when typically the patient has 240–270. Low kidney function when it is historically normal. Abnormal pap smear. Aortic valve sclerosis when none was observed before.

Some of those examples happened to me and some to my friends and no one called. Is the doctor depending on a follow up appointment enough in your mind?

Interested in your opinions.

If you work in the medical field I am interested to know what the AMA suggests or what is standard practice in the office you work in.

Feel free to share any stories that happened to you.