(McClatchy-Tribune Information Services) -- Patients often assume if they don't receive a letter or phone call after a medical test that everything is OK.

A study published last week in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed doctors failed to inform patients of abnormal cancer screenings and other test results one out of 14 times.

The rate was higher at some doctors' offices, as high as 26 percent at one office.

It was the first study of its kind.

Officials at Gundersen Lutheran and Franciscan Skemp say they are far from perfect, but they have uniform systems and processes in place to notify patients of test results.

Dr. Cheri Olson, a Franciscan Skemp family medicine physician, said Franciscan Skemp has checks and balances in notification of lab results, including that a doctor must sign off before the results go into the medical chart.

Olson said both La Crosse health systems have policies in life-threatening medical conditions that call for special notification.

"At times, we can't locate the patient, and we have to send the police to find the person," she said. "We have processes in place, and we track every test that is ordered."

Olson estimates that more than 90 percent of the time patients receive notification of non-emergency test results in a timely manner.

"But every physician can tell you a story where something went wrong, a wrong doctor's name on a test and it sat for three months or it was labeled wrong," Olson said.

"The cases that haunt you are the ones where there is an incidental finding, something that should be followed up on, and the patient is not notified," she said.

For example, a nodule on a chest X-ray that should be followed up in three months and it isn't, she said.

Olson said she advises patients never to assume that everything is OK if they don't receive a call or letter.

"I tell patients if they have not heard anything in two weeks, call me or my nurse," she said.

She also tells patients to ask physicians about notification of test results before they leave the doctor's office.

"You can't assume anymore that everything is normal," Olson said. "It's gotten more complicated with patients going to specialists at Gundersen, Mayo or other places. Don't assume it's not bad news."

Betsy Clough, director of the clinic quality at Gundersen Lutheran, said Gundersen Lutheran has systems that monitor and track test results.

"We track patients receiving test results on a regular basis," Clough said. "We've been able to electronically track the test results for several years.

"Electronic medical records have made a big difference for us, but you still have to have the processes in place," she said.

She said many patients who sign up for the online Gundersen Lutheran MyCare service can see their test results even before a letter is sent to them.

"Patients can see their test results faster with MyCare," she said. "With the increase use of MyCare, there is more of a timely response with the results."

Clough said MyCare supports patient access to the medical record, communications, health information and other online services. MyCare provides immunization history, appointment requests, allergy and medication lists, medical test results and letters from physicians, prescription refills and other health and disease information, she said.

Olson said Franciscan Skemp has plans for a similar online service.

Clough said Gundersen Lutheran patients have results back from routine tests such as blood work within a day. She said more than 90 percent of the time patients get results from routine tests in a timely manner.

"But the rate is closer to 100 percent for critical test results," she said. "If we have a critical abnormal test result, patients get notified as soon as possible."

Copyright (C) 2009, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.