Weekly INR tests available at Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory
INR testing available at VMH ... Weekly INR testing can be completed by the Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory. The lab is always open very early in the morning for fasting labs. Lab technicians are conveniently on site for a blood draw before a patient goes to work. Pictured above is George Pickett of Waukon, who regularly utilizes the hospital’s laboratory for his weekly testing. He is pictured with Lab Technician Cati Bruening. Patients are encouraged to ask their provider if their labs can be drawn and tested locally for their own convenience. Submitted photo.
The Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory has the ability to draw and locally run many of the lab tests regularly ordered by physicians. If a test is ordered that can’t be run at the local hospital, the lab can draw the blood and send the sample for more advanced testing, saving the patient valuable time and money.
Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory in Waukon is open in the very early morning for those fasting labs. Lab technicians are on site for a blood draw before a patient goes to work.
Weekly INR testing can also be completed by the hospital’s lab. The INR, or international normalised ratio, is a regular test many patients have to undergo each week if they are on a blood thinner medication, to monitor that their blood does not get too thin or too thick. An INR test measures the time it takes for an individual’s blood to clot. It is also known as prothrombin time, or PT. It is used to monitor blood-thinning medicines, which are also known as anticoagulants, and it can also be used to check if a person has a blood clotting problem.
Specialists from out of town will often require blood work prior to a patient’s next appointment and just automatically refer their own laboratory for the test. Sometimes that can require another day of travel out of town or make the day of an appointment very long. Often Veterans Memorial Hospital can run those tests locally and send the results electronically to the specialist the same day that the blood is drawn.
Wellness Testing is also a convenience at the Veterans Memorial Hospital Lab at reasonable prices. Wellness testing is available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. All patients should stop by the front desk of the hospital to order the particular tests they would like performed, or choose the whole wellness package at the standard fee.
Patients are encouraged to ask their provider if their labs can be drawn and tested locally for their own convenience. For more information, call the Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory at 563-568-3411.
