Your Visit to MLS
When visiting your physician, often times more information regarding your blood, urine or feces is needed before an accurate diagnosis can be made. That’s where we come in. Your physician will request one or more tests, ticking off the tests that need to be performed on the application form.
Some tests require you to be fasting. The reason for this is that the proportions of some substances increase drastically once you’ve had something to eat, which might lead to your physician drawing the wrong conlusion. To avoid this, your physician will indicate on your application form whether or not you need to be fasting. Fasting implies that you are not allowed to drink, eat, or smoke after 10pm on the evening prior to the sample collection. You are however allowed to drink water. Sample collection from fasting patients takes place during the morning hours.
The majority of our branches open at 7am, and you are more than welcome to walk in for blood collection, or to deliver samples collected at home. Appointments are not necessary; you can walk in at any time during regular business hours and at some branches even on Saturdays. Don’t forget to bring all necessary documents.
When you walk in to our building to have blood collected, you will be propmted to take a number at the entrance of the waiting room. When your number comes up, report at the counter where our welcoming team member will verify your personal information and register your application in our laboratory information system. Afterwards you can return to your seat, and your number will be called promptly for sample collection. If for any reason you have difficulty moving around, we are happy to accommodate you, by coming out to you and drawing blood while you remain seated in the comfort of your car.
Should you require a letter as proof of attendance for your employer, please don’t hesitate to ask.
When coming in to us for sample collection, please don’t forget to bring the following documents with you. If any of these are missing, we will unfortunately not be able to perform the necessary tests.
Valid ID
At MLS we accept all of the following as proof of identification. Please make sure the document presented is valid.
* Sedula (local ID)
* Driving license
* Passport
Application form
The application form should include your name and date of birth, as well as the required tests.
Valid insurance card
MLS accepts all valid local insurance cards. You can also pay in cash in case you do not possess a valid insurance card. A receipt is always provided as proof of payment.
Your physician or specialist may request you to deliver test material
(including urine, feces or semen) to the laboratory. Although we provide the facilities to collect this material at our laboratory, you’re welcome to do this in the comfort of your home and deliver your container(s) to our laboratory. Should you choose to do so, please take the following into account:
- Your samples should be delivered as soon as possible (preferably within two hours after collecting them)
- Make sure the container is closed tightly
- Make sure that you label the container with your name as well as the date and time of collection. There may already be a label glued on the container with your personal information.
- Keep the container in a cool place. Containers containing semen should be kept at a temperature of 37°C
- Use only containers provided by MLS or your physician or specialist.
If your container was labeled by us, please add the date and time that the sample was collected to the label. If we did not supply you with a labeled container, please report this when registering at the reception desk. Always remember to bring all required documents with you.
The collection of test samples is essential for all laboratory tests. Every laboratory test sample should be collected correctly and safely, to ensure accuracy of the test results. The most common samples taken at MLS are blood, urine and feces.
At MLS, blood is collected by our experienced analysts or blood drawing staff. The sample is used for several hematological, immunological, clinical and microbiological determinations. If you’ve ever experienced difficulties when having your blood drawn, please bring this to our attention, so we can take precautionary measures and try to make your experience as comfortable as possible.
Urine contains several substances that are abstracted from blood by the kidneys. As a result, urine laboratory tests generally provide a good view of the functioning of the kidneys. Urine can also be tested when the presence of a urinary tract infection is suspected. In this case, basic tests are preferably performed with fresh morning urine, which can be collected by you either at our location or at home.
Feces is sometimes examined to monitor digestion or to trace internal bleeding. Tests can also be performed to look for bacteria, viruses and parasites that are not supposed to be present in feces. Feces can also be collected at our location or at home.
Here at MLS, your privacy is of the utmost importance. That is why the test results are available exclusively for you and the physician(s) in charge of treatment. Physicians as well as any of our employees who may have access to your results are obliged by law to keep this information confidential.
You will receive your test results from your physician or specialist. As a rule, results are delivered to the requesting physician or specialist by our in-house messenger. The physician or specialist can also access them electronically if he or she is registered with MLS. Upon identifying yourself and providing approval of the physician, you may receive a hard copy of your test results. Our employees are not allowed to report on test results by phone.
Note that all applications and test results are stored digitally in our laboratory information system for the period prescribed by law.
English:
Instruction guide collection of 24-hr urine sample
Instruction guide Urine culture
Instruction guide sample collection feces for lab test
Instruction guide sample collection for STD test
Dutch:
Instructieblad Verzamelen van 24-uurs urine
Instructieblad Verzamelen van ontlasting voor laboratoriumonderzoek
Patients may (retrospectively) object to the use of their bodily material for further (scientific) research. In that case, the bodily material will be destroyed. Objection can be submitted to the laboratory by email or telephone.