I hear it every day. One pharmaceutical or the other ensures us that the follow up for taking their products is no problem. I have even heard this spoken by a physician in a trauma center. I am glad it is a simple test for them. The truth is their simple test still requires the patient to give up some blood. I don’t know anyone who feels that is simple. Explain it to a two-year old.
   That is not the beginning. The manufacturer of the test must prove to the Food and Drug Administration that the test really measures what it should; ruling out interference from anything natural or pharmaceutical in a blood sample. They convince the agency their test will work over a wide range of concentrations with a specific instrument or many different applications.
   In the local Laboratory an instrument is installed. Performance characteristics are verified employing measures no one considers simple. This process is performed by engineers with special training and special gadgets. The reagents required for the test are loaded on the instrument and more special testing is performed. Linearity, low end sensitivity, normal range study; if it is replacing an existing test a correlation study is performed and the bias calculated. Now we are ready to do some of those “simple test”.
   Daily instrument maintenance is performed, and weekly, and monthly, and however often the manufacturer suggest something is cleaned, changed, or checked. Every day or shift the test is performed Quality Controls are ran to verify performance. This “QC” data is subjected to longitudinal analysis for accuracy, shifts and trends. Many technologists have learned a special set of rules to assist in the analysis of this data, The Westgard Rules.
   A sample is received by the laboratory. A technologists determines if this sample is suitable to use for the intended test. Is there hemolysis, turbidity, icterus, are there known interferences, does the patient take some medication known to interfere, does the patient have some condition known to cause interference? If this is a therapeutic drug assay, was the sample drawn at the proper time to yield clinically relevant results? The test is performed. The instrument is observed to verify proper function. The result is compared to the “normal range”, and many factors are quickly considered. The result is reported to the ordering physician. The technologist is available to assist in interpretation if needed.
  As stated, I am glad the tests are “simple” for those using the results. Thanks to a group of talented, skilled, educated people, they can have those “simple blood test”. Phlebotomists, Technologists, Pathologists are the special people who directly affect the test outcome. As a member of the group, I salute them for taking a very complex process and making it appear so simple. I hope all of you on the other side of “simple” can appreciate what is done for your benefit. I hope you can express that next time you are on the receiving end of a “simple blood test”.