Complete Laboratory services are available through the Helena Cardiology Clinic.
Specialized or infrequent testing is possible due to our affiliation with Helena Medical
Laboratory and their association with Mayo Clinic labs. We also have the service
availability of hospital laboratories and their associations.
Laboratory services that are routinely done at the Helena Cardiology Clinic include
prothrombin times (protimes) to monitor Coumadin dosing and Chemistry panels for cholesterol reviews.
CBC (complete blood count), medication levels, electrolytes, thyroid testing, wound
culturing and urinalysis are just a few of our other routine laboratory testing.
Although we draw the blood at the clinic, we do not run the tests here. It is our
policy to send the specimens twice daily to the Helena Medical Laboratory. It is strongly
encouraged that all protimes be drawn before noon so the results can be back by 4:30 or 5
PM of the same day. This allows adequate time for Dr. Paustian to review the results and
recommendations to be called to the patient.
We prefer that Coumadin is taken in the evening so that if adjustments need to be made
in the dosing these adjustments can be made in a timely manner. Please inform us at the
time of your protime draw if you are on any new medication or antibiotics. Some
medications such as antibiotics can prolong the protime and this needs to be noted before
Dr. Paustian reads the lab results.
Chemistry panels can be drawn at any time with mornings being the preferred time and
with the patient fasting especially if you are taking cholesterol- reducing medication.
Chemistry panels are routinely processed the same day if drawn in the morning; if they are
drawn in the afternoon we do not receive the results until the next working day. It is our
policy to call the results of the lab work as soon as Dr. Paustian has reviewed the
results and offered his recommendations.
When asked to monitor the Digoxin level it is necessary to withhold the Digoxin the
morning of the lab draw or do the lab draw 6 hours after the dosing time. This will assure
an accurate level reported. Other laboratory samples generally do not require specific
directions. If in doubt please call for clarification.
In an attempt to keep all physicians involved in your care informed of the lab results,
we are able to request Helena Medical Laboratory to forward the results to your medical or
specialty doctor if requested or if necessary.
For many of our patients, there are other options for having blood draws which would be
more convenient for the patient. Upon a physician’s order, lab work can be drawn at
private laboratories such as Helena Medical Lab or hospitals and clinics in their area.
The results will be forwarded by these facilities and followed per routine in this office.
Laboratory draws do not require an appointment and will be done on first come, first
serve basis. Our scheduled patients will have first priority but we do make every attempt
to do the lab draws as timely as possible. Due to the schedule in our office, we encourage
the routine protimes and chemistry panels to be drawn on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
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