• Normal/routine

• ○ “Tests as a part of either a yearly physical or periodic follow-up for conditions are acceptable or in cases where the patient is well aware of his or her clinical condition and has the ability to take steps in order to rectify the situation” ∼GRAY.

• Comply with rules of autoverification

• ○ “if the values are all very agreeable […] I feel like the majority of those samples should be able to go to the patient chart right away.” ∼BLUE

• Examples of tests: complete blood counts, blood types, chemistry panels, renal panels, creatinine clearance.

• Abnormal, esoteric results; complex testing; tests that are not frequently performed or not in the common vernacular; critical values

• ○ “HIV, hepatitis… probably would be better if you know the doctor told them […] a drug test, I suppose that would be another one… so that they don’t interpret the results incorrectly” ∼CYAN.

• Results that could understandably cause distress for patients

• ○ “if it’s like a cancer antigen that may be high [but] they haven’t got a diagnosis of cancer” ∼AMBER.

• Examples of tests: bacterial susceptibilities to drugs, blood crossmatch results, anatomic pathology, STD tests.

• If the patient has adequate understanding of their disease and can use the information that they find in the portal

• ○ “let’s say you have a patient that is a known diabetic they try their best to manage their diabetes […] if they are well aware of their condition […] those results are fine to release to the patient” ∼GRAY.

• ○ “the patients are able to like see […] right away before they see the doctor and they can gather up information and ask their provider beforehand” ∼GREEN.

• If seeing test results could have a positive impact in the timeliness and quality of their care

• ○ “I mean we do our rapid test for our Biofire this have, you know, respiratory panels and stuff like that. I don’t think it would hurt for a patient to know that they have a cold right away” ∼RED.

• Concerns with emotional response to laboratory test results

• ○ “[W]hat if the patient saw the critical value before the physician […] they’d be freaking out […] things that could I guess really put fear in a patient’s heart […] because they don’t understand what some of those tests really mean” ∼JADE.

• ○ “I guess it would freak them out if they don’t understand what they’re reading” ∼GREEN.

• A clinician should always be available to explain the results

• ○ “they are able to add information about whether they saw a high or low… something flagged the results, rather than just the result without any interpretation.” ∼BLUE.

• ○ “Any life-changing experience like a very serious diagnosis we should intercept the patient first” ∼FUCHSIA.

• Some MLPs said that their specialized knowledge allows them to better understand test results

• ○ “I had an incident recently where I had some blood work drawn and they called me 2 days later to let me know that my glucose was abnormally high […] I recognized that it’s literally one number over their top range but I also knew that I had forgotten to fast… so I knew that my glucose levels were fine” ∼MAGENTA.

• MLPs who disagreed, said they do not know everything

• ○ “I feel like with the profession I’d then be able to know […] not necessarily that I can interpret all the different lab reports from all the areas I definitely cannot” ∼BLUE.

• ○ “I think that [MLPs] should be treated like maybe someone who doesn’t have medical experience […] because you don’t know how much they know and how much they don’t” ∼ORANGE.

• Depending on their scope of practice, some healthcare professionals can comprehend and use CLTRs

• ○ “So like nurses, you know, they should be able to get it and understand what’s going on; dieticians yeah maybe they should too […] but it kind of just depends on… on the patient… you know? and how active they are in… in their health care” ∼CYAN.

• Some MLPs were more skeptical about other healthcare professionals being able to use the test information

• ○ “I would say that they are more like regular patients […] They just lack that understanding and knowledge base” ∼MAROON.

• ○ “I don’t know if they are aware exactly what everything represents because they’re really the only people who can interpret lab tests are supposed to be doctors” ∼YELLOW