Direct-to-Consumer Lab Tests

In the past few years, there has been a spawning of various direct to consumer lab testing. These are places online where you can order your own medical tests, go to a local blood draw location (such as LabCorp or Quest Diagnostic), and get your results online. No doctor visits nor referral are needed. All the standard blood tests like cholesterol, glucose, vitamin D, B12, etc are available.

These are great for people who do not have insurance or have a high deductible insurance. And they just want to check their basic health status every once in a while without needing a doctor’s visit. It is sometimes difficult to get a doctor’s appointment without insurance. Because the first thing they ask is what insurance you have.

For those who do have insurance, there might be times when you want to get a test done, but your doctor says that it is not warranted. You can now get your own test done.

Also there are certain tests that you might want to run more frequently without having to always make a doctor’s visit. We all know that doctors are quite busy and have a full queue of patients. An example is a diabetic who wants to get an glycated hemoglobin A1C test done every three months to check to see if diet and exercise is having an effect.

With the Internet as a research tool, many consumers are savvy as to what tests to run and what the results means. For those individuals, they can save the time and expense with direct-to-consumer lab testing.

However, there are others consumers who would be better off seeing a physician in the traditional setting. These do-it-yourself testing is not for everyone.

Of course, there are certain medical conditions where a physician is definitely recommended for everyone.

What Others are Saying about Direct to Consumer Lab Testing