Laboratory services
The Cornell Health Laboratory is licensed by the New York State Department of Health and is CLIA certified for "Highly Complex Testing." Our NYS-licensed laboratory technologists work closely with other Cornell Health staff members to perform diagnostic tests essential to your care.
Cornell Health's laboratory serves undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in Ithaca. We are no longer able to provide services to faculty and staff.
Lab testing at Cornell Health occurs two ways:
- On-site collection & testing:
Many common lab tests that require blood draws, are performed onsite, by appointment only, with timely results available to the provider and patient. Costs for collection and testing are covered by the $10 visit charge for students enrolled on the Ithaca campus.
- On-site collection & off-site testing:
Samples for other specialized tests are collected onsite (blood draws, cultures, urine/fecal specimens, etc.) and sent to an external or “reference” lab for testing (The Lab Corporation of America and Cayuga Medical Center). Costs for collection are covered by the $10 visit charge for students enrolled on the Ithaca campus; costs for testing are billed by the reference lab to the patient's insurance plan.
Please see our Cost for Service page and our Insurance & Billing page for more information about lab charges.
Notification of test results:
Your Cornell Health provider will inform you of your lab results by secure message, through myCornellHealth. An email message will be sent to your Cornell email address informing you to log in to myCornellHealth to retrieve your confidential results.
If you do not have a valid net ID and Cornell email address, your provider will contact you by phone or mail using the contact information on file with the university.
Filling outside lab orders:
Our lab is no longer able to accept lab orders from outside (non-Cornell Health) providers. You can find a list of nearby lab draw locations on the Cayuga Health System website.
X-ray / radiology services
Our Radiology Department can conduct most types of x-ray examinations onsite, with results quickly available to the provider and patient. A NYS-licensed Radiologic Technologist (RT) will perform your exam, and the results will be reviewed by a radiologist and by your clinician to help confirm or rule out a diagnosis.
We perform diagnostic tests ordered by Cornell Health providers, and by outside providers. Costs for x-rays are covered by the $10 visit charge for students enrolled on the Ithaca campus. Visit our Cost for Service page and our Insurance & Billing page for more information.
A copy of the radiologist’s report will be placed in your health record. You may request a CD of your images and radiologist’s report (contact us at 607-255-6207). We will ask you to sign a form to indicate your permission to release confidential health information. Please note that we may not be able to provide your CD until the next business day.
If you need special x-ray procedures that we cannot conduct onsite, we can provide appropriate referrals to local radiology providers.