You can have blood drawn for many reasons, but no matter the reason, the blood sample you give has a similar journey to go on. It leaves your exam room and travels either to an on-site lab or another testing site where it is examined for the compounds your doctor wants to analyze.
Blood tests can be ordered for routine annual checkups, as part of a diagnostic procedure, or to evaluate the progress of your current treatment. Accurately interpreting your results is crucial to planning your treatment, which is why you should always take your blood work back to the doctor that ordered it to figure out what you should do next.
Blood tests can be part of a routine checkup, such as part of an annual physical. But they can also be used to diagnose or rule out certain conditions based on your current symptoms. Your doctor may want to check certain numbers to evaluate the effectiveness of your current treatment, check for a recurrence of a condition you have already had, or track the progress of an illness you currently suffer from.