An App That Explains Your Lab Results and What to Ask

Look for an app that shows each result with its date and where it came from, prints the range from your own lab report, tells you when it could not read a file, and ends with questions for your doctor instead of a diagnosis. Then bring the questions to your visit. This page explains how to read the result lines, what to check in any app, and what to ask.

How to read a result line

MedlinePlus explains the parts of a lab result:

• The value and the unit. Different tests use different units of measurement, so check the unit printed on your report.
• The reference range. MedlinePlus says it is a set of numbers that form the high and low ends of the range of results considered normal, based on results from large groups of healthy people.
• The lab. MedlinePlus says labs often use different reference ranges, so the range on your own report is the one that applies to that result.

What to check in any app that explains lab results

1. Does it use the range printed on your own lab report? If it swaps in its own range, it is no longer describing your report.
2. Does it show the date and the source of every result? A trend only means something if the dates are right and the results come from comparable places. MedlinePlus says results from different labs cannot be compared directly.
3. Does it say what it could not read? Silent gaps look like missing results.
4. Does it name the guideline behind a flag? A flag with no source is just an opinion.
5. Does it say it does not diagnose? MedlinePlus says combining your results with other information is what leads to a more accurate diagnosis, and that comes from your provider.
6. Do you know what happens to your files? Read its privacy terms. Our page on using records with ChatGPT or Claude lists what to look for.

Questions to take to your doctor

Put the most important first. The National Institute on Aging suggests listing what you want to discuss and asking about the most important items first. AHRQ also has a Question Builder app and a short brochure to help you prepare for appointments.

• Which of my results are outside the range printed on my lab report, and what does each one mean for me?
• Which results have changed since my last test, and by how much?
• Is there a test I should have had by now that I have not?
• Were any of these results from a different lab, and does that change how to read them?
• Which of these results do you want repeated, and when?
• Who on my care team looks at these results, and do they see the same numbers?

What to do with the files

Phi Longevity PRISM reads lab reports as PDFs, photos of printouts and spreadsheets, and connects to MyChart at participating Epic health systems. It builds a one-page Care Team Brief with each result, its date, its trend and the guideline behind each flag, and it uses the range printed on your own report. You print it or save it as a PDF and bring it to your visit with your own list of questions. See the one-page summary template if you would rather fill one in by hand.

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What Phi Longevity PRISM does not do

It does not diagnose, and it does not tell you what a result means for you or what to change. It reads lab results today; medicines, diagnoses and allergies are not imported yet. If it cannot read a file, it tells you instead of guessing. Your doctor decides what you need.