Getting Your Test Results

Expert Quote

“If something shows up that needs to be biopsied, I'll often show you the film so that you can see how big or small the lump is. But the mammograms are always yours, legally, and you can see them and even take them somewhere else if you wish. If you're not satisfied by the explanations you get, keep pursuing more information. When you go to a new center, be sure to bring your old mammograms. ”

Susan Greenstein Orel M.D.

Meet our Medical Experts »

If you're like most women, you'll want your test results immediately. With an emergency or just before a chemotherapy treatment, test results come back quickly. But when your doctor orders a non-emergency test, the staff in the lab or radiology department does the scheduling. Your doctor isn't likely to know when the test actually gets done or when the results are available until the report comes into the office three to seven days later. Meanwhile, you may think that your doctor has the results and isn't getting back to you.

Getting immediate results

Each mammography center has its own policy regarding presentation of results, good or bad. Some tell you all results on the spot. Other centers will not reveal any information to you, no matter how much you insist. It may be possible to get the results of your mammogram right away at a center with a radiologist on site. If your test is negative (that is, it shows no abnormality), you're given the information and you go home. If your films are suspect, you may or may not be informed at the time. You may just be told you'll be hearing from your physician.

The best person to give you your mammography results is the doctor who examined your breasts and ordered the study. This doctor knows you best. Some radiologists perform both the mammogram and the physical exam, so an immediate reading of your study is appropriate. Many women want an instant interpretation of their mammogram by the reading radiologist. They don't want to wait until their physical exams can be assessed. But it can be very awkward for one doctor to tell another doctor's patient any news, particularly bad news.

• Choose a center with a policy that works for you. If you are the kind of person who must have results quickly to prevent anxiety, choose a high-quality center that will accommodate your wishes. Unless your mammography center has an explicit policy to the contrary, as long as there is a radiologist on site who can read your mammogram, your demand for immediate results can usually be met.
• Ask questions. Regardless of who ordered the mammogram, who does it, and who reads it, immediate feedback is in order if you are called back for extra views. Needing additional films or extra views often means that part of the image wasn't clear, not necessarily that there's a suspicious area. Ask to speak to the radiologist who will be reading your mammogram. You don't want to go home feeling puzzled and anxious. Whatever test you have, make sure that all of your doctors and nurse practitioners are sent a copy of the report. When you sign in for the test, write their names on the top of your study request form, and note that each one is to receive a copy of the report to follow.

Waiting to get results

• Allow time. Not every test result can be reported immediately. Often the information gained is limited without full knowledge of your medical background and physical examination findings. Two physicians need to discuss this information and your test results to arrive at an accurate interpretation. That takes time. Agony or not, you usually can't be spared that wait. Allow a week for results for most tests.
  Some doctors have a standing policy requiring all patients to come in for all results, good or bad. That way, "Come in to my office" is routine, not the signal of doom. But if you want results as soon as possible and your doctor's schedule is too busy to allow you to come in on the spot, you may opt for the results-by-phone system—whether the news is good or bad.
• Let your doctor know who, what, when, where, and how. To expedite the process, call your doctor when you've completed the test. Leave a specific message stating exactly what you are calling about. Tell what test was done, when it was done, where it was done, where you will be, providing all your phone numbers and when and until how late at night to call. Your doctor can then get back to you and give you the information you want as soon as it's in hand. You may also want to specify just what information can be passed on to you through a third party if you miss the call and someone else takes it for you. Or, if you may be out, be clear what information may be left for you on your answering machine.
• Make an appointment. Save yourself stress and phone-tag hassle. Make an appointment for that phone call. Allow a time frame between, say, one and three o'clock. Arrange in advance that if you don't hear from your doctor by three o'clock, you will call back. You won't be stranded waiting, and you can plan to have someone around when you get the call—just in case. Usually, test results are easily presented and discussed over the phone. Occasionally they are going to be complex, possibly unfavorable.
• Make it clear that you want to know—even if everything's OK. Your doctor may not be able to get back to you right away. She or he may not have connected with the radiologist who read the test, or with the laboratory that did the pathology analysis. Many centers insist that the radiologist who establishes the finding must pass it directly to the referring physician to avoid any slippage, misplacement, or loss of information. It may be very hard to make that connection. Doctors are busy and often unavailable at the moment you call, and information can lie idle.
  If your mammogram shows nothing unusual, your doctor may insert the report directly into your record without calling you. He or she assumes you expect a call only about something abnormal. Don't believe "no news is good news." Rather: "No news is no news," says women's health expert Marie Savard, M.D. Make it clear to your doctor that you want to hear any and all results. Some states now require that mammogram reports be sent to the patient at her home.
• Keep records. Make sure that for every test you have, the results (whether positive or negative) get passed on to the physician who will act on those results. Once in a great while, test results get lost and no one is aware of the loss. So it's a good idea for you to keep track of your records yourself. Learn how to manage your medical records.