For 95% of tests in our catalogue, no. You can book, pay, and get tested without a referral. The 5% that do require a physician signature — primarily EPISEEK early cancer detection, FRAT autoimmune testing, prenatal panels, and certain specialty assays — are clearly flagged in our catalogue with a "Req. Required" tag. For those tests, you download the requisition form from the test listing, have any physician sign it (your family doctor, a naturopath, or a walk-in clinic), and bring the signed form to your collection appointment. We don't offer physician signature services ourselves, so you'll need to arrange that independently.

Individual test prices range from about $115 for basic markers up to $1,299 for specialty tests like EPISEEK early cancer detection. Most commonly ordered tests fall between $115 and $899. Home visit fees are $85 in Calgary and $145 in Chestermere, Airdrie, Cochrane, and Okotoks — added once per collection appointment regardless of how many tests you're having drawn. Order multiple tests in one appointment and save $20 per test. Full prices for every test are visible in our online catalogue — no gated "contact us for pricing."

Standard panels — thyroid, vitamin D, hormones, metabolic panels, complete blood count — typically return in 3 to 10 days after Tuesday shipping. Turnaround varies by test and lab. Specialty assays can take longer: ArminLabs tick-borne panels typically take 10 to 21 business days (samples ship to Germany), EPISEEK cancer detection takes up to 30 days, and some niche specialty tests can take several weeks. The exact turnaround for each test is shown in our catalogue before you book, and we confirm the expected timeline at checkout so there are no surprises.

Yes, it's genuinely private. AvoVita Wellness is not connected to Alberta Health, your family doctor, your employer, or any provincial health system. For the 95% of tests that don't require a physician signature, your results are stored in your secure AvoVita patient portal and shared only with you — you decide whether to share them with your doctor, specialist, or anyone else.

For the small number of tests that require a physician requisition (such as EPISEEK, FRAT, and prenatal panels), results are sent to the signing physician per Canadian regulatory requirements. We comply with PIPEDA and Alberta's PIPA privacy legislation, and our data is hosted in Canada through Supabase's Canadian region.

No. Private blood testing through AvoVita doesn't require an Alberta Health card, BC Services Card, or any provincial health ID. We don't bill provincial health insurance because these tests aren't covered by it — that's part of why they're private. You pay directly through the catalogue at checkout (credit card, debit, Apple Pay, or Google Pay through Stripe). Some private insurance plans, HSA accounts, and workplace wellness benefits will reimburse private lab work — we can provide a detailed receipt if you want to submit one, but we don't bill them directly.

A lot. Your family doctor in Alberta is limited to what's approved through Alberta Health or what they can order out-of-pocket through a small handful of reference labs. Through our Mayo Clinic Laboratories partnership, ArminLabs in Germany, Precision Epigenomics in the US, and ReligenDx, we can offer tests that simply aren't in the Alberta Health menu: EPISEEK multi-cancer early detection, PHI Prostate Health Index, ArminLabs Elispot for Lyme and co-infections, NMR LipoProfile for cardiovascular particle analysis, full hormone panels with SHBG and DHEA-S, ArminLabs FoodScreen IgG panels, and hundreds more. If you're not sure whether we can get a specific test, email us and we'll tell you.

After you check out, you schedule a collection window through our phlebotomy partner FloLabs — Monday through Saturday, mornings or afternoons. A licensed phlebotomist arrives at your home, office, or hotel at the scheduled time with sterile supplies and shipping-ready containers. The draw itself takes 10 to 20 minutes: confirm ID, confirm tests, perform the draw, label tubes, pack for shipment. Samples are then couriered to the appropriate lab (Mayo Clinic, ArminLabs, Precision Epigenomics, etc.) for analysis. The entire visit is usually done inside 30 minutes.

It depends on the test. Some tests require fasting (9-12 hours, water only): lipid panels, cardiovascular panels including NMR LipoProfile, comprehensive metabolic panels, and insulin testing. Others don't: HbA1c, thyroid panels, vitamin D, most hormone panels, antibody tests, food sensitivity panels. Each test in our catalogue shows its fasting requirement. If you're booking multiple tests with different fasting requirements, fast for the strictest one — your body will thank you for the precision.

You'll get an email notification and an SMS (if you opted in) when your results are available in your AvoVita portal. You log in to portal.avovita.ca with your email and password, and you'll see your results as a PDF report with reference ranges and flags for out-of-range values. Your results stay in your portal indefinitely — you can return any time to compare against past draws, download copies for your doctor, or share with a specialist. We don't interpret results for you (that's your doctor's job), but we can tell you what tests you had and what markers they measured.

Yes. You can reschedule your FloLabs collection appointment up to 24 hours before the scheduled time through the FloLabs booking system. Cancellations more than 24 hours ahead are refunded minus a small processing fee. Less than 24 hours, we may charge a partial rebooking fee depending on the situation — we're reasonable about emergencies and illness. Contact us at 1-855-AVOVITA if anything comes up.

Private blood testing is not covered by Alberta Health or any provincial plan. However, many private insurance plans, workplace benefits programs, and HSA (Health Spending Account) or FSA accounts will reimburse out-of-pocket lab work — especially when ordered for legitimate health reasons. After your appointment, we can provide a detailed receipt showing test names, prices, and the provider. Submit that to your plan administrator. Coverage varies widely, so check with your provider first. We don't bill insurance directly, but we make the paperwork easy.