Laboratory and Diagnostic Testing in Ambulatory Care: A Guide for Health Care Professionals

Learn the lab testing skills you need to know! Laboratory and Diagnostic Testing in Ambulatory Care: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, 3rd Edition provides in-depth coverage of the most common procedures and techniques of all the new CLIA waived, point-of-care tests along with some moderately complex tests. Clear, step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs make it easy to perform each test and procedure. To reflect the expanding roles of medical assistants and medical lab technicians, this edition adds a new chapter on electrocardiography and spirometry. Written by noted medical assisting educator Marti Garrels, this guide also includes an Evolve companion website with videos, structured lab notes, and activities for extra practice with clinical laboratory skills.

• Comprehensive coverage of the most common CLIA waived tests prepares healthcare professionals for lab testing in the ambulatory setting.
• A triad organization gives chapters a consistent, easy-to-follow format, with 1) fundamental concepts, 2) step-by-step instructions for CLIA waived procedures, and 3) advanced concepts that lead to a higher level of critical thinking and decision making.
• A full-color atlas section shows common laboratory and diagnostic findings, including depictions of cells, casts, and crystals.
• Learning objectives begin each chapter with goals for what you should accomplish, serve as checkpoints for comprehension and skills mastery, and provide a study tool in preparation for examinations.
• Procedure boxes provide step-by-step instructions and full-color photos and illustrations for today’s commonly requested CLIA waived lab tests.
• Key terms are listed and defined at the beginning of each chapter, as well as included in the book’s glossary.
• Common abbreviations and acronyms associated with CLIA waived testing are listed and defined at the beginning of each chapter.
• Review questions at the end of each chapter ask you to recall and assimilate the information you’ve learned.
• A workbook matches the chapters in the textbook, offering activities and exercises to reinforce laboratory concepts, terminology, and procedures. Sold separately.
• Expert author Marti Garrels brings years of on-the-job experience, an advanced MSA degree, dual degrees in medical technology and medical assisting, and classroom experience as an instructor and as a medical assisting program director.
• References at the end of each chapter cite related websites for further reading and research.
• An Evolve companion website includes various activities and exercises to enhance learning with problem-solving scenarios.

• NEW illustrations and photographs showcase new technology and the performance of lab testing tasks.
• NEW! Electrocardiography and Spirometry chapter focuses on the role of the medical assistant and the lab technician in these diagnostic tests.
• NEW content updates the text with a focus on new technology and significant advances made in recent years, including the latest CLIA waived test methods.

Martha (Marti) Garrels is a former Professor and Program Director of the Medical Assisting program at Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend, Indiana, and Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington. She has been an active member of the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) for more than 25 years.