If you wish to get health screening done, it is not necessary to go to hospital to get the tests done. In my experience, I have had health screening done at 3 laboratory companies in Malaysia: BP Healthcare, Pathlab and Gribbles. Unlike hospitals, it is less crowded and less waiting time. Usually they are opened on Saturdays, hence if you work on weekdays you can set an appointment with them.
I know that BP Healthcare and Pathlab have outlets throughout Malaysia that can provide healthcare screening. This means you can call them to set up an appointment. From their website, you can select the package that you wish to take, or else, show up and speak to their staff on which package that may be most suited for you.
If you wish to have your blood and urine test taken on the same day of your visit so that you need to go so many times, you would need to fast the night before, ie no solid food after dinner. Depending on the test you are taking, you may even need to stop drinking water after 12am.
How to find the place you wish to go for your screening
Usually company healthcare benefits would not cover for such tests unless you are in senior managerial positions or have exceeded certain age. Hence most of the time you would probably need to pay out of pocket. These tests usually cost above RM100 and with ultrasound and more tests it can go into few hundred or few thousand ringgit. However, the coverage in these tests would be much more than the usual GP referral that you get as part of your company medical coverage.
You may visit the website of the health screening centers such as BP Healthcare, Pathlab and Gribbles. Compare the package price and the tests that you may wish to take. Usually for Mothers and Father’s Day there are usually package offer.
If unsure of which package to take, you can always call them and explain some symptoms you are having, in which appropriate tests may be suggested. I did this by visiting Pathlab and BP Healthcare.
You would be informed of the result and on the day when you go and collect your results, a professional would be assigned to explain the result, especially on any irregularities. When I went to BP lab, a qualified doctor was actually assigned to explain the test results to me. Usually they also give a card, the size of a driver’s licence that contains your blood type that you can keep in your wallet. This comes in handy if anything happens (touch wood), emergency personnel would be able to know immediately your blood type.
Sometimes when you visit a clinic, you may see a poster or information offering health tests at a package price. If the listing of tests appeals to you and you find the pricing to be reasonable, you can have your blood and urine samples taken in the clinic itself. The samples would then be sent to the lab for testing and usually you would go back to the clinic to see the doctor to discuss the results. That was my experience with Gribbles lab where I had my samples taken, then told when to come back to discuss the results.
The blood tests can give indication of possible or hidden health issues or any irregularity in your blood work. For example, I always have higher than normal ESR rate which means I am prone to inflammation and infection. I have a theory about how my character may contribute to the high rate, in case you are interested to read more. But most commonly, such health screening would be able to detect common health issues such as rising blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels or high blood pressure. If it is not too high, doctors would advice you to opt for lifestyle change and go back to have another test done after a certain interval. Which we should follow because medication is expensive and once on medication, we would most probably need to be on them for life.
Do get yourself tested from time to time to rule out any common health issues. And to put your mind at ease.
