Lab & imaging results

Find new results in the Results inbox

When a lab or imaging order comes back, Hero EMR delivers the report to two places at once: a Results folder inside your Inbox, for triage and patient notification, and the patient’s chart (Labs and Imaging tabs), for longitudinal review. Reports file themselves — Quest lab results are checked automatically throughout the workday, Genova functional-medicine results arrive as PDF reports, and radiology reports flow in from your imaging vendor. Placing the orders these results come back from happens in the encounter — see Order medications, labs, imaging & more.

1. Open the Results folder. Click Inbox in the top tab bar, then Results in the left sidebar — its badge counts your open, unread results (marking a result complete also marks it read). The Lab Results row in the Home dashboard’s priority queues jumps straight here too (see Dashboard queues), and Home’s urgent Results waiting counts “Unread results, plus critical results nobody has marked Done.”, so an opened critical result stays there until someone marks it complete.
2. Scan the list. Each row shows the patient’s name, a summary built from the result (the abnormal analytes, or the study description), a relative time, and a severity pill. Unread entries are bold; opening one marks it read automatically. The list holds your 50 most recent results — anything older is on the patient’s chart.
3. Sort, search, and refresh. The action bar offers a sort dropdown (Most Recent, Unread First, Flagged First), a search popover (Subject, sender, body…), a refresh button (Refresh messages), and a history clock that toggles Show completed messages / Hide completed messages.

Review a lab report and trend the values

A lab result lives in two views: the Results inbox entry shows the full analyte report for the draw you’re reviewing, and the chart’s Labs tab puts the same analytes in a multi-date trend table so you can see where each value is heading.

1. Open the report. Click the entry in Inbox → Results. The header shows the summary title, completion date, and any Requisition: / Accession: identifiers, with an uppercase severity pill (NORMAL / ABNORMAL / CRITICAL).
2. Read the Test Results table. One row per analyte, with columns Test (the LOINC code sits under the name), Result, Unit, Reference Range, and Flag. Out-of-range rows are tinted and marked — an amber up arrow for high, a blue down arrow for low, and a red warning triangle for critical values — and a Critical values or Abnormal values chip banners the table when anything is flagged. An Additional Details section collapses the remaining metadata.
3. Open the original PDF when there is one. Labs that return a document (Genova results, for example) add a View PDF report button that opens the original in the document viewer.
4. Trend it from the chart. The chart’s Labs tab lists every lab order with Date / Test / Provider / Status columns (statuses: pending, in_progress, completed, cancelled). Use Sort by: Date, Test, or Status, and Filter by: All or By Me (orders you placed).
5. Use the trend preview. Click a row to open the split preview (double-click for full screen; Hide Preview / Show Preview collapses the pane). The preview is not a single report — each component is matched across all of the patient’s lab orders, giving one column per result date with the selected date highlighted. Rows show Ref Range & Units under the component name and red up/down triangles on out-of-range values, so a calcium drawn alone trends against the same analyte inside a CMP.

Quest results for tests ordered outside Hero

A practice administrator can open Admin → External Providers → Labs and turn on Add Quest results for tests ordered outside Hero after connecting the practice’s Quest account. This is optional. Hero files a result only when the ordering provider’s NPI belongs to the practice and the patient’s first name, last name, and date of birth identify exactly one chart. Ambiguous or conflicting identities are not filed automatically.

If the settings show Quest is rejecting the saved sign-in, Quest orders cannot send until it is fixed: check Hero’s Quest user in Quest Quanum, or update your practice’s own Quest login (see Labs: Quest & Labcorp). A failed Quest order submission alerts the ordering provider; check the error before assuming the lab received the order. Labcorp results come back into the chart once Labcorp Link is connected and results retrieval is on; otherwise they reach the chart by fax or upload. Old results from before the connection are not imported (see Lab results from Quest and Labcorp).

Review imaging studies and radiology reports

Imaging follows the same two-surface pattern: the chart’s Imaging tab tracks every study across its lifecycle, and when the radiologist’s final report comes back it also lands in your Results inbox as its own entry.

1. Scan the Imaging tab. Studies list with Date / Modality / Study / Provider / Status / Contrast / Actions columns, with Sort by: Date, Modality, or Status and Filter by: All or By Me. Contrast reads With Contrast, Without Contrast, or With & Without Contrast. The list loads as you scroll, ending with All imaging studies loaded.
2. Know the lifecycle. The Status pill walks each study through its life:
   pendingsubmittedscheduledimagedcompletedreviewedcanceledfailed
   Tracking outstanding orders and chasing studies that stall belongs to referral & order tracking.
3. Open the report. Click a study for the split preview (double-click for full screen). The report card splits the radiologist’s text into Technique:, Findings:, and Impression: sections (or a single Report: block), plus Accession Number:, Technical Details: from vendor metadata, and a Read by line naming the radiologist. Concerning studies are marked under the title with a warning icon — URGENT for critical flags or Abnormal Findings — and studies brought over from Epic carry an Imported from Epic badge.
4. Watch the Results inbox for finals. When the radiology vendor returns the final read, you get a Results entry with the study description, date, severity pill, an Indication section, and the full report text — triage it like any other result.

Acknowledge, flag, and complete results

The Results folder is a worklist, and each entry carries its own read, flag, and completion state. Opening an entry marks it read immediately and decrements the sidebar badge; everything else lives in the right-click context menu on a list entry, or the More (…) menu in the action bar.

After you reply to the patient from a result (next section), a green Response Sent confirmation with a timestamp appears under the compose box — your record that the result was communicated. Read, flag, and response states are stored per entry on the server, so they survive reloads and stay consistent across your devices.

Notify the patient of a result

Every result entry ends with a reply box, so you can close the loop without leaving the report. Write the message yourself or let AI draft it — either way, nothing goes out until you send it.

1. Write the message. Type into the box (Type your message to the patient…). Enter sends by default and Shift+Enter adds a line; if you changed your send key in your keyboard shortcuts, use that instead. Dot-phrases work here just like in other message boxes.
2. Or let AI draft it. Type the key facts and click Expand to turn them into a patient-friendly explanation, or click Quick reply on an empty box for a draft from the result and chart. The draft is marked Expanded by AI or Drafted by AI, and Undo restores your text. See AI replies.
3. Edit and send. Click Send to portal. The entry is marked Response Sent with a timestamp, and any reply continues as a regular thread in the Patient folder.
4. Arrange follow-up care if needed. The Schedule button in the toolbar above the result opens the standard scheduler for that patient, so an abnormal result can become a booked visit on the spot — or a link asking the patient to book.

What the patient already sees in the portal

Patients with records access see their own results in the portal’s Health Records screen (and in the My Hero app): a Lab Results tab that expands each order into analyte values with normal/abnormal/critical coloring, and an Imaging tab (Imaging Studies) that shows study status and the radiology report text once it’s final. Your reply from the Results inbox arrives in the portal’s Messages as a normal secure thread. For the patient-side tour and how records access is granted, see Records in the portal. A lab that still waits for the draw shows which lab to go to and whether to fast; a practice can also send the patient a notice when a lab is ordered (Tell patients when a lab is ordered).

Releasing results after review

When an administrator sets Admin → Patient Portal Configuration → Features → When patients see lab and imaging results to After a clinician releases them, each new lab or imaging result waits before the patient sees it in the portal or the My Hero app. The result itself, its report PDF in Media, and its place in the health summary all stay hidden until it is released. Results already in the chart stay visible.

1. See whether the patient has it. The result in Inbox → Results, and its order in the chart’s Labs or Imaging tab, says Not released to the patient yet. Releases automatically … with the date and time in the practice’s time zone.
2. Release it. Click Release to patient. Sending the patient a reply about the result (the Results reply box or Send to patient) releases it too. A physician of the practice, or a team member allowed to review results, can release.
3. Or keep one result held. Keep held… keeps this one result from the patient past the practice’s hold, until a clinician releases it. Pick the reason (State law: discuss with the patient first, Risk of harm to the patient or someone else, or The patient asked to wait) and add a note if useful. Some states, California among them, require a conversation before a new cancer, HIV, hepatitis or drug test result is posted online.
4. Otherwise it releases on its own. At the end of the practice’s maximum hold (24, 48 or 72 hours; 72 by default) the patient sees it without anyone doing anything. Hero sends the patient no separate alert; your reply is the message.

Nurses review results before the physician

A nurse can look at the practice’s results first, call the patient or arrange a repeat, and mark each one nurse reviewed. The physician still reviews every result; the nurse’s review and note are shown to them. This needs the permission Review results and mark them nurse reviewed (the physician still reviews them), which the Nurse role profile includes. Someone who is also a physician in the practice gets the physician’s Results folder instead.

1. Open Inbox → Results. The nurse view lists the practice’s results, with Search results and a Review status filter: To review or Reviewed. Chips mark Critical and Abnormal results, Nurse reviewed, and Updated since review when a newer or corrected result arrived after the review.
2. Read the result. It shows the type, when it resulted, the flag, the physician, and the values (test, value, range, flag) or the report text, with Open chart.
3. Mark it reviewed. Add an optional Note (for example Called the patient, repeat lab scheduled) and click Mark nurse reviewed. The same button is in the chart’s Labs and Imaging tabs, once a result exists.

The physician’s result then shows Nurse reviewed by the nurse and the time, or An earlier version was nurse reviewed by … when the result changed afterwards. The physician’s own read and complete marks are not touched. If a newer result arrives while the nurse has it open, Hero asks them to open it again: “A newer result arrived. Open it again to review the latest version.”