Slashdot Mirror
Affordable Blood Work In Four Hours Coming To Pharmacies
kkleiner writes "With the cost of healthcare services increasing, it's welcome news that a recent deal between Walgreens and Theranos will bring rapid, accurate, low-cost blood testing to the local pharmacy. A pinprick of blood from a finger is enough to run any number of a la carte diagnostic tests with results in four hours or less. The automation of blood testing in one convenient machine may mean that the demand for clinical technicians may decline, but the benefits of making blood analysis more accessible to everyone is enormous."
that the winner of the international science fair came up with...detected Lung, Pancreatic and one other type of cancer using a carbon nanotube and a handful of parts he picked up at Home Depot. Cost of the test? About $0.04 and highly accurate.
What will it cost after it's commercialized? We'll see.
once your friendly insurance company gets ahold of it, it'll cost $650. Affordable, by their standards.
I'm not sure where this breathless PR piece is leading to. We've been using 'micro' samples in automatic lab analyzers for years. Just because you can get the results from Walgreen's doesn't change things.
I imagine that Walgreens is going to run only a few tests - cholesterol, pregnancy, HIV antibody. Tests where the FDA has approved patient education for point of care testing. I don't think you can order a whole lot more without 'practicing medicine' and for that you need some sort of license. Perhaps they will limit the testing to places where they have a mini clinic with a PA (physician's assistant) or NP (nurse practitioner).
Ordering tests without knowledge of some important things (like pretest probability / accuracy and sensitivity of the tests) is basically worthless.
But what the hell, it will make somebody some money. That's what counts.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Not really. I've got this hang up about actually wanting to be a part of raising the children I'll (hopefully) one day father.
Besides, sperm donation doesn't exactly save lives, whereas blood donation does. Last Wednesday marked my 20th donation (2.5 gallons) and the second year in a row I managed to make six donations in a calendar year, the maximum allowed in the United States and Canada. Earlier in the year I even got a letter from the ARC saying that one of my donations had been transfused into two different patients somewhere out in Buffalo.
Do you know of a way to make that kind of a positive impact for less than an hour of your time?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Wow, thanks so much for this insightful and completely topical post!
I think I'd like to see this in my doctors office. They could employ someone to take care of that, make blood work more quick for diagnostics, and patients wouldn't have to go to yet somewhere else for blood work, then everyone waits for results. I could be wrong, but it feels like this is something a doctors office might be more well invested in for the patient. And if the cost is low enough, then perhaps it's a service they add on regularly so as to insure there's not something cropping up that goes undiagnosed between visits...since we all know that particularly men don't want to go to the doctor unless something is really wrong.
But, it goes back to doctors being more invested in patients and their positive health and less about getting as many people through the door as possible in a day. However, that's probably a whole different discussion.
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
It was your choice to sign up for a plan with a $6000 deductible, and I'd imagine it's quite a bit less expensive than your old plan. If not, pony up some details. We don't need your name and Social Security number to verify what you're paying for a plan under the new healthcare exchanges.
Absolutely! I'm Type II, and I check my blood sugar twice a day, always using the side of a finger. Sometimes, when I'm getting my vitals taken at the doctor, they want/need to check again, and I always make sure that they don't use the pad or, in some ways worse, the fingertip. (Try typing within several hours of having blood taken from your fingertip, and you'll know why.) In one case, I actually had to demand to speak to a supervisor after an arrogant tech insisted that he knew better than I did about where to take the blood. He ended up getting chewed out, doing things the way I wanted and apologizing (probably the worst punishment) for not listening to me.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
My choice? Let them eat cake, I guess.
My premiums went up another $250/month. Deductible went from $500 to $6000, with 65% coinsurance to $9000. No prescription drug coverage. A lot of people reading this got the same news this year. Or will.
My son's birth two years ago cost me $500. Baby #2 is due this year and it's going to cost me $9000.
:wq
Blood from the tip of your penis is actually the best blood to use for tests. If you complain about it you're just a problem patient.
So - don't forget to check the box at the bottom of the form saying that you agree to their privacy policy. (whereby, your blood will give them a DNA sequence that they can sell as marketing information - which funds the tests. And the CEO's retirement plan).
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Uh, they have a licensed pharmacist right there to analyze the results, in the rest of the world a pharmacist can basically do everything an NP can do because they have to know medicine and pharmacology to do their job.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Getting blood is one thing, storing, distributing, and inserting it is entirely another.
That's funny. Pheasants also freak out at my 16 gauge.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
I imagine that Walgreens is going to run only a few tests - cholesterol, pregnancy, HIV antibody.
Well, it looks like a few more than that:
http://www.theranos.com/test-menu?ref=our_solution
I didn't bother to count; maybe 200 in that list? Heavily tilted towards drug detection and STDs, but still a pretty good variety.
Why would I make an appointment with my doctor for 4 weeks from now, drive over, get a referral to a testing center, drive over, get stuck and drained, drive home, make another appointment for 4 weeks to get the results, drive over, and have someone read me results with no background info, when I could go to Walgreens, walk out with the results 10 minutes later, and spend 20 minutes on Google finding out what they really mean?
I would say that the fact that I can get results from Walgreens changes everything.
And the worms ate into his brain.
This is the main reason this is good. Just like giving flu shots at the pharmacy. Technology has advanced so much, at yet, in the medical field, prices have only skyrocketed, because there's strict limits on who can do what. If diabetics can give themselves their own insulin injections, there's no reason the average Joe shouldn't be able to give themselves a flu shot, or at least get one from somebody who doesn't cost as much to employ as a nurse. Same goes for simple blood tests. For many blood tests, there's very little reason to go to a specialized lab, so they can charge extravagant amounts of money for putting a drop of blood on a piece of paper and looking at what color it turns. We need to bring the cost of healthcare down, especially for routine procedures if we want people to be able to afford medical care in the future.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Diabetics take a course, and their immediate life depends on it, and they can' give diabetes to anyone else.
many would be given wrong, and they don't know what to look at to see if something went wrong.
Dr. Office don't really make any money from the Flu vaccines... or any vaccines. They often lose money.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I doubt it. Sounds like a lie, or some other change happened your not talking about.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Indeed. It's really a failure of the system that I can't go to "Bob's discount MRI and Bait Shop" for the "cheaper at 4AM" discount. There are only so many MRI machines in the world, so MRIs are far too expensive. Why aren't there more? Why are any of them idle at 4AM? A system that doesn't respond well to demand by increasing supply has issues.
And you see this all over healthcare. Sure, it takes a doctor to understand what test results mean in the context of patient care. But the tests themselves are just technology, and nothing brings cost down like the march of technological progress. Something's fundamentally broken when we're not seeing the cost of high-tech tests fall quickly over time.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Apparently you had Sarah Palin as a reading comprehension teacher.
He is comparing the American health care system with the European health care system.
Which is far superior by every measure.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The last time I took a blood test to my GP (ordered by my dermatologist) she said "Hmm, I don't normally order that test. Let me go look it up and see what these results mean". The five minutes that she took to do the research, and the three minutes she took to explain it to me, were insufficient; five minutes more on my own with Google after the appointment gave me a much greater understanding of the result, the meaning, and the next steps.
So, yes, I do have the knowledge to do that. And the wisdom to get my results from the NIH, Scripps, Harvard, etc. medical websites rather than someplace frequented by watchers of Oprah and followers of Jenny McCarthy.
And the worms ate into his brain.
If your plan was compliant with the AHA, which it sounds like it was, then your insurance company is absolutely still allowed to offer that plan. The fact that your insurance company decided to drop that that plan and only offer you a worse one, which is something they COULD HAVE DONE AT ANY TIME ANYWAY, is just down to your insurance company being douches, not a fault of the AHA or Obama. I'm willing to bet that if you shopped around (power of the marketplace, gee what an interesting concept) you'd find someone else offering something similar or better to your old plan at similar or better pricing.
My purely random anecdotal story is that, with the advent of the AHA, my employer offered plans went from a single plan that gave me no choices or options, to the choice of three plans. The first was almost identical in price to the old plan I had, $1,000 deductible, $30 co-pay, same prescription drug coverage both on 30 and 90 day amounts, and with the exception that now it covered routine lab work (out of pocket, no coverage before), and several preventive care options that weren't available previously. But even better were the two other options. For about 20% more I could drop to a $750 deductible, with $25 co-pay and similar reduction in drug costs, or for 40% more than my original I could drop to $500 deduc, $20 co-pay, and even lower drug costs.
Choice is a wonderful thing.
"Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
Nope. Insurance companies have an interest in increasing medical costs.
Under Obamacare health insurance companies are allowed a maximum of 20% of the cost of medical care. The only way health insurance companies can increase their profits is by increasing medical care costs.
Man, I hope you aren't anywhere near the legislative process. People like you are why we can't have nice things.
I have ten times more motivation and available time to research than my doctor does; he's just trying to last through his 80 patients a day and not kill anyone. His training and experience are certainly valuable, but for the most part when I'm talking to a doctor s/he's either (a) a generalist with a little bit of familiarity with me and a little bit of familiarity with what might be wrong with me, or (b) a specialist that knows a great deal about one particular thing that *might* be wrong with me but knows exactly dick about me personally.
I, on the other hand, have excellent computer skills and search fu, can read, understand and critique research in some disciplines (a skill that is highly transferable, by the way), and know a great deal about myself. I'd *much* rather be able to manage my own treatment and consult with a doctor when I need insight or specialized skills.
cogito ergo dubito
The last time I took a blood test to my GP (ordered by my dermatologist) she said "Hmm, I don't normally order that test.
That's why your dermatologist should have been interpreting the results and discussing them with you. Specialists may often order tests that general practitioners don't.
A previous poster who asked why he should get an appointment and drive around and then have someone read him results over the phone demonstrated a more serious problem than just having to visit a doctor. He's got a doctor that doesn't care and doesn't explain what the results mean. Or doesn't have time to care. As more people go to the same number of doctors because they've now got insurance, that problem will get worse and not better.
I've seen this problem firsthand. My previous GP was my GP in name only; I got handled by his PA, and after one test I learned of the diagnosis from the medical equipment salesman calling to set up a time to deliver the equipment I was supposed to use instead of from the PA or GP. My current GP is much different.
So, yes, I do have the knowledge to do that.
Some people do. The vast majority do not. The vast majority will see low value on a test result and find the absolute worst possible interpretation on the web, ignoring the more common less serious possibilities. Kind of like, "OMG, I've got red spots all over my face, I must have measles", instead of thinking "I drank myself into a stupor and my frat buddies had a good time with a red sharpie." Like "OMG, my vitamin D numbers are low, I must have ..." instead of "eat more veggies with vitamin D and get more sun, or take a vitamin pill".
In California, patients are prohibited from obtaining blood tests without a doctor's request. And, the test results must be sent only to the doctor without providing the patient with a copy.
One example of this breakage you are talking about. In most US states a new MRI clinic (or other medical service) cannot open without permission from the state. There is some committee which decides if there is enough demand in the area to justify opening a new provider. (Who do you think this cozy arrangement benefits? It isn't the general public, surely) This is done under the lunatic delusion that more availability and competition would cause prices to rise.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
It's about getting everyone insured.
Nope. Some people are finding Obamacare is cancelling their insurance while their Obamacare replacement insurance is unaffordable and they make too much for a subsidy.
So far, more people have had their insurance cancelled than the number of people who have been able to obtain a policy through the government website.
mean in the context of patient care. But the tests themselves are just technology, and nothing brings cost down like the march of technological progress.
Pharmacist: Here's your test. You have leukemia.
Customer: What? What does that mean? Can it be treated? How long do I have to live?
Pharmacist: I'm sorry. I'm just a pharmacist. I'm not allowed to give advice like that. You'll have to see your doctor.
Customer: But I don't have a doctor!
Uh, they have a licensed pharmacist right there to analyze the results, in the rest of the world a pharmacist can basically do everything an NP can do because they have to know medicine and pharmacology to do their job.
My insurance company sent a nurse practitioner to see me. I said, "What's this thing on my arm Is it just an aging spot or is it something more serious?" She said, "I'm not allowed to diagnose."
And for good reason she wasn't allowed to diagnose. A dermatologist spends years learning to distinguish melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and thousands of other things that look like skin cancer but aren't. Make a mistake, and the patient dies needlessly.
NP!=MD.
Neither can pharmacists make diagnoses like that.
Do you want to have third world medicine, where ordinary people can't afford to see doctors?
In most US states a new MRI clinic (or other medical service) cannot open without permission from the state. There is some committee which decides if there is enough demand in the area to justify opening a new provider.
The original reason for that was a good one. When MRIs came out, hospitals, and free-standing radiology clinics, were buying more MRIs than anyone knew what to do with (with the help of financing from the manufacturers).
There was an epidemic of over-use of MRIs. MRIs expose you to a lot of radiation. Somebody calculated that when you give a child an MRI, that child has a 1/10,000 increased risk of brain cancer. They were advertising (useless) whole-body scans on the radio, just to fill up their machines.
So the Medicare administration decided to limit the number of MRIs to just what they needed.
We really need a sign near the comments that reads: "don't feed the trolls".
Tomorrow is another day...
Based on my recent experience with an illness, this is exactly what you will have to do if you ever fall out of the normal bounds of straightforward illnesses. You will be managing your own treatment and trying to piece together what's wrong with you. You will burn through doctors and specialists one by one as they say they cannot help and refuse to let you make appointments. You will end up being the only person on the whole planet who cares and all the time you will be doing this when you are sick and/or drugged up. You will also realize that the whole health care system does not work like JIRA and that there is no follow up and your issue will be dropped if you don't continue to be the squeaky wheel. Health care is not engineering. It's scary how few engineering best practices are used in it and how full of holes the "system" has. Healthcare is probably about 40 years behind engineering in terms of problems solving and issue resolution and about a million years behind understanding how our bodies work vs "complex" systems we diddle around with all day on computers.
Moral of the story is - don't get sick with anything weird otherwise you're basically toast.
I used to donate many years ago, then they changed the gauge needle they use and it started leaving a scar. After the second time it happened, I stopped donating blood. I work in professional environments, I really don't need 'track marks'.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
Diabetics take a course...
Whatever gave you that idea? When I started on insulin, I was told how much to put in the syringe, and the nurse checked to see if I'd gotten it right. I did, because when I was younger I'd been the caregiver for a diabetic friend who'd lost his sight and set up his daily injection, although I'd never needed to give them. That and a few instructions about how and where to inject were all of the training I got.
The first time I did it, I'll admit, was rather difficult, because it took a bit of time to get used to the idea. The second day was easier, and I got lucky because I put the needle in exactly the right place and didn't feel it at all. From then on, it's not been very hard at all.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
The point is that even though your doctor orders tests, it's useless, often misleading, and sometimes dangerous for you to bypass your doctor and get the same (or similar) tests cheap in a pharmacy.
If you don't have the skill set to understand the tests, and your pharmacist can't legally explain them to you (because he doesn't have the skill set either) what's the point of getting them?