Receiving a pathology referral from your doctor does not necessarily mean you need to visit a pathology collection centre.
For many common tests, a professional collector can come directly to your home, collect the required specimens and arrange for them to be transported to a pathology laboratory for testing.
At Mo’s Home Pathology, we provide mobile pathology collection across Sydney for a wide range of doctor-requested tests — from routine blood tests to longer procedures such as a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT), as well as urine, stool and swab collections.
For patients who are busy, unwell, elderly, pregnant, working from home or simply prefer the convenience of being collected at home, mobile pathology can make completing a doctor’s request considerably easier.
What Tests Can Be Collected at Home?
Many people associate home pathology only with routine blood collection.
In reality, there are many types of pathology specimens that can potentially be collected or coordinated from home.
Depending on your doctor’s request and the laboratory’s requirements, Mo’s Home Pathology can assist with:
- Routine blood tests
- Fasting blood tests
- Glucose Tolerance Tests (GTT)
- Glucose and insulin testing
- Urine specimens
- Stool specimens
- Swab collections
- Timed blood collections
- Multiple blood samples taken over several hours
- Other specialised doctor-requested pathology collections
The exact collection requirements depend on the tests ordered by your doctor.
Routine Blood Tests at Home
Blood testing is one of the most common forms of pathology testing.
Doctors may request blood tests for many reasons, including monitoring general health, investigating symptoms, reviewing medication or monitoring an existing health condition.
Common blood tests can include measurements relating to:
- Blood cell counts
- Iron levels
- Kidney function
- Liver function
- Cholesterol and lipids
- Blood glucose
- Thyroid function
- Vitamins and minerals
- Inflammatory markers
- Hormones
- Medication monitoring
Instead of travelling to a collection centre, patients can have many of these blood samples collected from their own home.
For someone who only requires a quick blood collection, this can turn what might otherwise involve travelling, parking and waiting into a short home appointment.
Fasting Blood Tests Can Be Easier at Home
Some pathology tests require the patient to fast before collection.
Having to travel while fasting can be inconvenient, particularly early in the morning.
With home blood collection, you can remain at home while fasting and have the collector come to you.
This can be particularly convenient for elderly patients, people who feel weak while fasting and those who need to get on with work or family commitments shortly after their collection.
Once the required specimens have been collected, you can usually resume eating according to the instructions provided for your test.
Glucose Tolerance Tests at Home
One of the more specialised services offered by Mo’s Home Pathology is the Glucose Tolerance Test at home.
A standard GTT is different from an ordinary blood test because the patient must remain under a timed testing protocol for approximately two hours.
A typical 75 g Glucose Tolerance Test involves:
- Arriving after the required fasting period
- Confirming patient identification and test requirements
- Collecting a fasting blood sample
- Drinking a prescribed glucose solution
- Collecting another blood sample at the required timed interval
- Collecting the final sample at two hours for the standard protocol
At Mo’s Home Pathology, our collector can remain with the patient throughout the testing period.
That means the patient can complete their GTT from the comfort of their own home rather than spending several hours at a pathology collection centre.
Why Would My Doctor Request a GTT?
A Glucose Tolerance Test measures how the body responds to glucose over time.
One of its best-known uses is testing for gestational diabetes during pregnancy, although doctors can request glucose tolerance testing for other reasons as well.
Depending on the clinical question, the doctor may request:
- A standard 75 g GTT
- Glucose and insulin measurements together
- More frequent timed samples
- Samples every 30 minutes
- A longer testing period
- A different glucose challenge protocol
We follow the pathology request and the collection instructions relevant to the individual patient.
Home GTT Can Be Particularly Helpful During Pregnancy
Pregnancy often involves numerous medical appointments, scans and tests.
Adding several hours at a pathology collection centre for a GTT can be difficult to fit around work, childcare and other responsibilities.
A home GTT provides another option.
The patient can remain in familiar surroundings while the collector manages the required timed collections.
This can eliminate travelling to and from a collection centre while fasting and can make the overall testing experience considerably more convenient.
Urine Testing at Home
A pathology referral may also request a urine sample.
Depending on the test, the specimen may need to be collected at a particular time or using a specific collection container.
Mo’s Home Pathology can provide appropriate specimen containers where required and arrange collection and transportation of the specimen to the laboratory.
Urine testing may be requested for a variety of investigations, including infection, kidney-related testing and other laboratory analyses.
Stool Specimen Collection
Doctors may also request stool testing for investigations involving the gastrointestinal system.
For many people, collecting a stool sample is already inconvenient enough without having to make a separate journey to a pathology centre simply to obtain a container or return the specimen.
Where appropriate, we can provide the required collection equipment and arrange for the completed specimen to be collected from the patient’s home and transported for laboratory testing.
Swab Testing at Home
Swabs can also form an important part of pathology testing.
Depending on your doctor’s request, this may include specimens such as:
- Wound swabs
- Throat swabs
- Nasal or respiratory swabs
- Skin swabs
- Other microbiology specimens
Having a swab collected at home can be particularly useful when a patient may have an infectious illness.
Instead of travelling through public areas or sitting in a collection centre while unwell, the patient can remain at home while the appropriate specimen is obtained.
Multiple Tests Can Often Be Collected During One Visit
One of the advantages of home pathology collection is that patients do not necessarily need separate appointments for every test.
If a doctor has requested several appropriate investigations, we can often collect the required specimens during the same home visit.
For example, a pathology referral might include blood tests together with a urine specimen.
Another patient might require a Glucose Tolerance Test together with insulin measurements.
By reviewing the pathology request before the appointment, we can identify what equipment and specimen containers are required and plan the collection accordingly.
What Do I Need to Book a Home Pathology Collection?
For most pathology testing, you will need a valid pathology request from your doctor or other authorised healthcare practitioner.
Booking with Mo’s Home Pathology is designed to be straightforward.
You can contact us and provide your pathology request so we can determine:
- What tests have been requested
- Whether fasting is required
- What specimen containers are needed
- Whether the test involves timed collections
- Whether any special handling requirements apply
- How long the appointment is likely to take
We can then arrange a suitable time for the home collection.
What Happens to My Samples?
After the specimens have been collected and correctly labelled, they are transported to an appropriate pathology laboratory for processing.
The laboratory performs the requested testing and results are issued according to the laboratory’s normal procedures, generally to the healthcare practitioner who requested the investigation.
Mo’s Home Pathology provides the collection and transportation service — interpretation of the test results and decisions regarding diagnosis or treatment remain with your healthcare practitioner.
Who Can Benefit From Home Pathology?
Home pathology is not only for people who are physically unable to attend a collection centre.
It can also be useful for:
- Busy professionals
- People working from home
- Pregnant patients
- Parents with young children
- Elderly patients
- People with disabilities
- Patients with mobility limitations
- People experiencing anxiety around pathology collection
- Patients who are unwell
- People requiring early-morning fasting collections
- Patients requiring lengthy tests such as a GTT
- Anyone who values the convenience of having their collection performed at home
Sometimes the easiest way to make sure a blood test actually gets completed is simply to remove the inconvenience associated with getting there.
Your Pathology Referral Doesn’t Have to Mean a Trip to a Collection Centre
If your doctor has given you a pathology request, consider whether the collection could be performed from home.
From a straightforward blood test to a two-hour Glucose Tolerance Test, urine, stool and swab specimens, Mo’s Home Pathology aims to make pathology collection more accessible and convenient.
We come to you, complete the required collection and arrange for your specimens to reach the laboratory.
Book a Home Blood Test or GTT in Sydney
If you have a pathology referral and would like to know whether your tests can be collected at home, contact Mo’s Home Pathology.
We provide professional home pathology collection across Sydney, including the Lower North Shore.
Call 0411 638 237 or visit mohomepathology.com.au to enquire or arrange a collection.
Mo’s Home Pathology — professional pathology collection, brought to your home.