Patient commentary: Direct access would beat receiving test results with the receptionist’s interpretation

The most obvious point to make is that test results may have more meaning for members of the chattering classes than others. I believe asking a group of people on the street or the farm or at the harbour what they understood by the serum Na, K, HCO3, urea, or creatinine would draw a very large number of blank expressions.
How one communicates with a patient depends on who the patient is.