Urinalysis: its proper role in the physician's office.

Urine study is an important aspect of physician's office laboratories. The contributions that urine study can make are important for both the patient and the physician. State-of-the-art technology makes it possible to have urine test results available at the time the patient is being examined without inconvenience to the patient, the physician, or the laboratory. The cost-containment contributions of urine study are significant for both the patient and the physician. The analytes currently studied provide a broad spectrum of information that relates to many of the problems presented by the typical patient in the typical physician's office.