The Doctor Is Out: LabCorp to Let Consumers Order Own Tests

[MachineGhost]

[quote=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -own-tests]Consumers will soon be able to bypass their doctors by going online to order cholesterol readings, thyroid tests and other bloodwork from the biggest diagnostics company in the U.S.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings will let customers go online to pay for tests, visit a service center to get blood drawn, then view the results on the Web. The company has already been doing back-office lab work for a number of Internet firms that let people order up tests without a doctor.[/quote]

[screwtape]

My wife used to work for LabCorp until a few years ago so I'm sure she'll find this interesting (a pretty good company that didn't pay as well as she currently earns as a lab technician but had better benefits).

Bottom line for me is what will be the cost? Looking at the cost of blood tests I've had recently that insurance paid for there is no way I'm going to pay for any of them myself. I'm sure they can do it cheaper but the question is will they?

[iwealth]

If you want insurance to cover it, yes, there needs to be diagnostic reasoning for the testing. But in almost all states you can order your own labs (and pay out of pocket) at a significant discount to what the labs charge the insurance companies.

[MachineGhost]

Don't you need a physician's order to get labwork done? I'm not questioning the morality/sanity of this, just pointing it out...

Hell no!  Except in a few backward states where crony capitalism thrives (like NY).  Poor Reub.

The vast majority of doctors are hopelessly ignorant and nothing but drug pushers being kickbacked by Big Pharma, so I can't see this as anything but tapping into the free market demand/response against the corruption.  Win-win!

So when patients take care of the low hanging fruit and start to self-implement preventive care, maybe fewer doctors can actually focus on the specialization of fixing real problems instead of pill pushing palliatives and patronization.  The writing is on the wall.

And man, this just cannot happen fast enough.

[MachineGhost]

Bottom line for me is what will be the cost? Looking at the cost of blood tests I've had recently that insurance paid for there is no way I'm going to pay for any of them myself. I'm sure they can do it cheaper but the question is will they?

I do wonder if LabCorp is going to undercut all of their third party backend users on prices.  It doesn't make good business sense.

[Benko]

There are at least one or two other companies that do this and have been for awhile.  Really good idea, but not every lay person knows how to interpret them, and some are not straightforward e.g. if you lift weights you can cause abnormalities in some tests for a day or two.

[iwealth]

There are at least one or two other companies that do this and have been for awhile.  Really good idea, but not every lay person knows how to interpret them, and some are not straightforward e.g. if you lift weights you can cause abnormalities in some tests for a day or two.

There are quite a few, the best of which I've found to be lef.org. There's a big blood test sale going on that ends tomorrow, and they have a pretty huge selection of tests for anyone interested: http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements ... lood-Tests

The best deal I've found is this fairly comprehensive panel for $97.50:
http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements ... -Test.html

It's called a "weight loss" panel, but it's good for far more than that.

[MachineGhost]

It's called a "weight loss" panel, but it's good for far more than that.

Indeed its pretty darn good.  The only flaw in my book is the lack of homocysteine.  I just ordered it along with an aldosterone test.  There's only two days left for the sale (including today).

Sure would be nice if HMO's and physicians would cover preventive testing without all the aggravation/hassle.  I don't understand why insurance companies don't grok that it would save them money in the long-term.  Idiots.

[Benko]

  I don't understand why insurance companies don't grok that it would save them money in the long-term.  Idiots.

Having given local lectures in prevention, I can tell you that in general few people (aside from the seriously neurotic--not referring to the folks here) have any interest in prevention.

I used to work for a pharmaceutical company and it amazed me how they would cut next years R&D budget to make this years bottom line come out ok.  I think there is something of a now mentality rather than a long term mentality to perhaps it is the US.  Don't know if this is a US flaw vs europe, or any other areas.  but long term planning does not seem to be a way of thinking for many.

I don't know that the data that would convince e.g. insurance companies exists.  Of course it is obvious, but perhaps hard data would change things.

Physicians learn to treat.  Prevention, least when I was in medical school, wasn't on the menu.

[MachineGhost]

Boy, that's really depressing.  I feel a little guilty? about not going through the grind to try to have the costs covered, but I really don't think its worth the stress/disappointment.  Even though $181 out of pocket really sucks!