"Annual" ob/gyn bloodwork?

[DopeyDame]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

Some pcps will do the well-women type tests and some don't. If yours does, that's awesome and no need to go to the gyn.
I generally do have two physicals, but I don't go to my pcp every year, usually more like every other year.

 

[wilkeliza]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

Yes I go to two. I would not have my PCP, although she is an internal medicine doctor, do my pap smear nor would I assume they knew everything there is to know for GYN issues. A PCP usually does the whole body health and doesn't specialize in one thing or the other so I trust a GYN more for lady parts issues than my PCP.

 

[pocomom]

I guess that is what it was my old ob/gyn would do the whole thing- weight, hormone and cholesterol levels, full physical- I didn't go to a separate physical. This place just did the pap and ordered the mamogram and ultrasounds. So now I need to see a primary care doc for the other stuff.

 

[JediBonas]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

I only went to my PCP (who would also do my gyn exam) until I got pregnant. I love my OB/GYN so now go to her for my annual and usually don't get a physical from my PCP.

 

[jahber]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

I've never been to an OB/GYN. I don't have any gynecological problems (and midwives delivered my babies), so my family physician is more than capable of handling my Pap smears and breast exams. If I had a problem, of course, she would refer me to a specialist. As she did when I got pregnant the first time. When I'm pregnant, as I am now, my midwife does the Pap smear and blood work so I don't have to also see my doctor (and my doctor is fine with that).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Admittedly not the best doctor, but I know I have had my bloodwork done through my old gyn before -it was standard practice at that place and they were listed as my primary doctor. So it didn't strike me as odd. Sounds like it should have? I'm in my early 40s and probably haven't checked cholesterol and other levels in 7-8 years. Tend not to go in unless there is an issue so once a year or two for bronchitis or an ear infection. Was getting a little anxious because I needed some follow up testing which turned out to be a "probable" fibroid tumor, AND got the mamogram callback too. Probably nothing but between not getting the test I wanted and ending up with this anxiety I remembered why I'm not good about going in!

Get your cancer screenings ON TIME. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer through my mammogram. It is stage 1 but I was 10 months late on my mammo.

I also had a colonoscopy at 41. If your insurance covers it, get one. It is the most curable cancer with prevention.

 

[dodukes]

I get bloodwork at my ob/gyn every year but its for things like herpes I think and HIV, strictly std related but my PCP does the cholesterol and all that. So yes its not uncommon for my ob/gyn to do bloodwork.

 

[Turn the Page]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

I do. For years I just went to the OB/GYN annually but my moms regular doctor scolded her for only going to see him when she was sick and not for an annual physical. She said she goes to the OB/GYN annually and thought that was good enough (as did I) and she was told it wasn't, she needs to see her PCP for an annual physical too. My mom is, of course, a few decades older than I but I have had some health concerns crop up recently so started seeing a PCP.

My OB/GYN has only drawn blood twice and once was to do a test for clotting factors and such due to blood clots I developed after DD9 was born and the other time when I requested certain screening tests. She may have ordered the standard cholesterol tests and whatnot too but I never heard about them.

ETA: My father has had melanoma about 6 times so I go to the dermatologist for a screening one or twice a year also. Add in a trip to the eye doctor and biannual dental cleanings and I spend so much time in the doctors office you would think I was falling apart.

 

[camreesmom]

The only time my OB/GYN did bloodwork was when we were dealing with infertility and when I was pregnant. I still have my pap smear done at the OB/GYN and they send the results to my PCP for my file. I will be 50 soon and have high cholesterol so my PCP orders blood work every 4 months. I'm lucky that we get two free physicals a year at work and will do our lab work here so that we don't have to miss work. My PCP gives me the lab orders, I bring them to work so they can draw my blood, and they send the results to him. I have an awesome PCP and he is really good about reminding me to have my pap, mammo and eyes checked every year.

 

[RitaE]

I guess that is what it was my old ob/gyn would do the whole thing- weight, hormone and cholesterol levels, full physical- I didn't go to a separate physical. This place just did the pap and ordered the mamogram and ultrasounds. So now I need to see a primary care doc for the other stuff.

One of the reasons I wanted to get all my Doctors under the same health system was so that they could pull up records and results without me having to report back and forth between them. So since my Primary Care Doctor just ordered bloodwork in December, my Gynecologist just looks at those results on her computer.

Now my "wonderful" insurance has can't come to a contract agreement with the health system my entire slate of Doctors works for, and now I get to find ALL NEW DOCTORS, again. That really has nothing to do with your issue but I saw a chance to vent so I took it.

I'd just call the Primary Care Doctor and ask her to write an order for the blood work. You probably won't even have to go in unless something comes up in the results.

 

[wilkeliza]

One of the reasons I wanted to get all my Doctors under the same health system was so that they could pull up records and results without me having to report back and forth between them. So since my Primary Care Doctor just ordered bloodwork in December, my Gynecologist just looks at those results on her computer.

Now my "wonderful" insurance has can't come to a contract agreement with the health system my entire slate of Doctors works for, and now I get to find ALL NEW DOCTORS, again. That really has nothing to do with your issue but I saw a chance to vent so I took it.

I'd just call the Primary Care Doctor and ask her to write an order for the blood work. You probably won't even have to go in unless something comes up in the results.

I thankfully found doctors that all work for the same hospital system. Even with insurance changes they are thankfully all still in network. I was so afraid that after finding a team I like that I was going to have to find a whole new team of doctors when my company made a big insurance switch.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

I go to doctor's specialists.

My PCP will order tests if I need them however I prefer to see a specialist for some things.

ENT Allergist (get my ears cleaned)
OBGYN for annual.
Dermatologist. Annual skin cancer screening. I work outside and have frequent mole removals and eczema.
Gastro (I get reg. colonoscopies due to past precancerous polyps.)

Now I have breast cancer so I have to include oncologist on the list now.

 

[littleblackegg]

The GYN will order bloodwork only for what is necessary for your routine OB/GYN health, or when she/he is prescribing medication that requires it. Obviously, if the exam reveals something that needs care, she/he will either send out for blood or refer you back to your PCP. Some people use their PCP as their GYN, and the reverse is true as well. There is a lot of cross-over. I recommend if you have a specific concern, you see your PCP.

 

[anniemae]

I go to doctor's specialists.

My PCP will order tests if I need them however I prefer to see a specialist for some things.

ENT Allergist (get my ears cleaned)
OBGYN for annual.
Dermatologist. Annual skin cancer screening. I work outside and have frequent mole removals and eczema.
Gastro (I get reg. colonoscopies due to past precancerous polyps.)

Now I have breast cancer so I have to include oncologist on the list now.

Hope all is well.

 

[Meriweather]

That is done by my primary Doctor not by my Gyn.

This

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hope all is well.

Thanks. Hanging in there.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

It may depend largely on whether you are filing the visit as your annual wellness visit on your insurance. I do two sets of bloodwork with my internist each year, so I let me GYN skip that.

 

[Christine]

There was a time (and maybe it's still that way) that certain PPO insurance companies made you pick a primary care physician and that PCP had to refer you out for everything. After a time, they "let" women pick their OB/GYN as their primary because women (especially younger women) went to an OB/GYN more often than a PCP. During that time, I noticed that if you had that sort of plan, they GYN would offer to do those tests for you.

I never had that type of plan and so I always declined. Now they don't even offer it anymore because I think many insurance companies got away from that practice.

I honestly don't think my GYN is that good a knowing the ins and outs of that sort of bloodwork. I know when my friend asked her GYN to run a Vitamin D test, he picked the wrong one. They are very good with GYN-type tests but I would not want to rely on them for overall blood chemistry. I realize they are doctors and those tests are pretty basic but, let's face it, it's not their area of expertise once they get out of school.

 

[maxaroni]

I go yearly to my OB/GYN. He does my pap, breast exam and orders my mammo. He would do blood work, if necessary, for anything relating to the GYN side of things. He would order my dexa scan (bone scan) as well, but my PCP has been doing that. I do not skip a year, go each year. My PCP is seen every year as well. I usually do not need more than yearly, unless an issue or am sick. He orders my annual blood work. I see a dermatologist for my yearly mole check. I see a gastro for my colonoscopies...started them in my 30s as my mom had polyps. Mine was to be a screening but wound up with polyps that first time. I have now had some pre cancerous polyps. I have seen an endocrinologist for thyroid issues as well.

Someone up thread mentioned having a bone density test at the doctors office. I go to a radiology center and it's done by a machine and read by a radiologist. I also need my wrist scanned as I presume my back and hips have issues. I do have osteopenia and take Evista.

 

[aprilgail]

question-do people go to two doctors for physicals? An ob doc AND a primary care?

I get everything done at my primary care. Never been to an OB. My pcp does all the test's and blood work. I guess she would be a general practitioner.

I go to an OB/GYN for pap screening and my regular Dr for things like a physical and blood work. My OB/GYN doesn't do routine blood work, they ordered blood work once to check to see if I was in menopause but that was it and just that test, not routine yearly stuff like CBC/Cholesterol etc. My daughters pediatrician also is the one that orders her yearly bloodwork. If I want an EKG or Echocardiogram I go to a cardiologist, ENT for ear issues, Dermatologist for skin checks etc- each Dr. for their own specialty. For Mammography's I go to the Womens Imagining Center, all they do there is Mamo's. For bone density its a radiologist.