You can get tested for most diseases at your primary care doctor’s office, urgent care clinics, local health departments, commercial labs, and even at home with FDA-authorized test kits. The right option depends on what you’re testing for, whether you have insurance, and how quickly you need results.
Your Doctor’s Office or a Walk-In Clinic
A primary care provider is the most straightforward starting point for disease testing. During a routine visit, your doctor can order blood work, urine tests, swabs, or imaging based on your symptoms or age-based screening guidelines. Most doctor’s offices either draw samples on-site or send you to a nearby lab. Urgent care clinics work similarly and can handle testing for strep, flu, COVID, UTIs, and other common infections without an appointment.
Hospitals also run in-house laboratories, though you’ll typically only use them if you’re already being treated in an emergency department or admitted as a patient. For routine screening, a doctor’s office or outpatient lab is faster and cheaper.
Commercial Labs
Commercial laboratories are freestanding facilities not attached to a hospital. The two largest in the United States are Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp, and both have thousands of patient service centers nationwide. Your doctor sends the lab order electronically, and you walk in (or schedule an appointment) to have your blood drawn or sample collected.
Some commercial labs also let you skip the doctor visit entirely. Quest Diagnostics, for example, offers over 150 lab tests you can purchase online through its direct-to-consumer platform. You pay out of pocket, order the test, visit a nearby draw site, and get results digitally. This can be useful if you want a cholesterol check, blood sugar reading, thyroid panel, or STI screen without scheduling a separate medical appointment. Other companies like Labcorp OnDemand offer similar services.
Local Health Departments
County and city health departments are one of the most underused testing resources available. Most offer clinical services that include STI testing and treatment, childhood and adult vaccines, and cancer screenings for breast and cervical cancer. Some also provide tuberculosis testing, hepatitis screening, and HIV testing at low or no cost.
Health departments are especially valuable if you’re uninsured. Many operate on a sliding fee scale, meaning you pay based on your income. To find your local department, search your county name plus “health department” or visit your state’s public health website.
Federally Qualified Health Centers
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community clinics that provide primary care services regardless of your ability to pay. They use a sliding scale fee structure based on income, so even without insurance, you can get blood work, disease screenings, and diagnostic testing at a reduced cost. There are over 1,400 FQHCs operating across the country, often in underserved areas. You can find one near you at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s website (findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov).
STI and HIV Testing Sites
If you’re specifically looking for sexually transmitted infection testing, the CDC maintains a free locator tool at gettested.cdc.gov. You enter your zip code and it returns nearby sites offering HIV, STI, and viral hepatitis testing and vaccines. Many of these locations offer confidential or anonymous testing, and some provide services at no charge. Planned Parenthood clinics are another widely available option for STI screening.
At-Home Test Kits
The FDA has authorized home-use tests for several conditions, including HIV, cholesterol, blood sugar, and vaginal pH. These kits let you collect a sample (blood from a finger prick, a saliva swab, or a urine sample) and either read results at home or mail the sample to a lab. Home HIV tests, for example, deliver a preliminary result in about 20 minutes.
At-home kits are convenient for privacy and speed, but they have limits. A positive result on a home test almost always needs confirmation through a lab-based test. And for conditions that require complex panels, like a full metabolic workup or cancer markers, a clinical lab is still necessary. Treat home tests as a first step rather than a final answer.
What Screening Tests Are Covered by Insurance
Under the Affordable Care Act, all Marketplace health plans and many employer plans must cover a list of preventive screenings at no cost to you, with no copay or deductible. This applies when you use an in-network provider. The covered screenings include:
- Blood pressure screening
- Cholesterol screening for adults at certain ages or higher risk
- Colorectal cancer screening for adults 45 to 75
- Type 2 diabetes screening for adults 40 to 70 who are overweight or obese
- Hepatitis B screening for people at high risk
- Hepatitis C screening for adults 18 to 79
- HIV screening for everyone 15 to 65, and others at increased risk
- Lung cancer screening for adults 50 to 80 who are heavy smokers or quit within the past 15 years
- Syphilis screening for adults at higher risk
- Tuberculosis screening for certain high-risk adults without symptoms
- Depression screening
If you have insurance, these tests cost you nothing when ordered through an in-network provider. That makes your regular doctor’s office or an in-network lab the most cost-effective route for routine disease screening.
How to Prepare for Testing
Some blood tests require fasting, which means no food or drinks other than plain water for 8 to 12 hours before your appointment. Common tests that require fasting include blood glucose (blood sugar), cholesterol panels, and basic metabolic panels. Liver and kidney function tests sometimes require fasting as well.
While fasting, avoid chewing gum, smoking, and exercising, all of which can affect results. Coffee, juice, and soda count as food for fasting purposes, so stick to plain water. Drinking plenty of water actually helps: staying hydrated keeps your veins fuller, which makes drawing blood easier and less painful. If you’re unsure whether your test requires fasting, ask when you schedule the appointment. Showing up fasted when you didn’t need to be is always better than the reverse, which could mean repeating the test.
For non-fasting tests like STI screens, HIV tests, or strep swabs, there’s generally no preparation needed. Just bring a photo ID and your insurance card if you have one.