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If you stay in a hospital overnight or longer, you may have many blood tests. Sometimes you need all these tests, especially if you are very sick. But sometimes you get more tests than you need. Here’s what you should know about blood tests in the hospital.
Common blood tests.
When you’re in the hospital, you may have blood drawn for two common sets of tests.
These tests can help your health care provider identify a problem and learn if a treatment is working.
More testing doesn’t always help you.
If your test results stay the same after a day or two, you may not need them again. In some cases, more tests won’t tell your health care provider anything new, unless you’re in intensive care or your treatment changes.
Less testing doesn’t hurt you.
There’s no harm in having fewer tests. Several studies show that reducing common tests at the hospital did not affect patient health or safety.
Getting too many blood tests has risks.
Blood tests are very safe. But they can cause other problems if you have them every day.
You may need a blood test every day if:
Ask your health care provider why you have blood tests every day.
It’s okay to ask your health care provider why you need more blood tests. Ask if the test gives new information or is likely to help your treatment.