Do-It-Yourself Medical Testing?

Thursday July 9, 2009

Kimberly Read, the About.com Guide to Bipolar Disorder sent me a link about ordering one's own medical lab tests.

Yes, do-it-yourself medical testing. From West Nile Virus to STDs to Liver Profile Panels -- all those tests a doctor might send you for. Prices range from $50 to hundreds (maybe thousands?)

My guess is that the people who would want to take advantage of this type of service would be those who either don't have health insurance, or those who don't want a local doctor to know they may have acquired an STD or some other embarrassing problem.

But do-it-yourself testing isn't exactly what you think it would be.

When you arrive at the website, it looks like you'll be able to order tests by mail order. Turns out, that's not it. If you click on one of the tests, you keep clicking until you learn that you are supposed to order a specific test of dozens of tests, and you have to actually find a doctor who will write an order for the test you want. Then you have to go to a lab (locations in many, but not all areas) to have your blood drawn, to leave a urine sample, or provide whatever. Once the results are available they send you an email and you view them online.

But I can guarantee that they DON'T provide a diagnosis -- and that's what you'd be looking for, right? The only reason to order these things is to get results that are useful. But labs don't diagnose anyway. They simply supply results in the forms of numbers -- whatever has been measured.

So why would you bother? You would have to go to the doctor anyway because you would need someone to translate them -- a formal diagnosis and a prescription or treatment protocol. We can't order our own treatments, no matter what kinds of lab work we have done.

Can there be danger to arranging for your own tests? While I suppose there could be some risk (radiation? risk of infection? others...) I think the bigger danger is to your wallet.

Just like the online symptom checkers -- you can't really get the information you need and be confident it is correct. A wise patient leaves that to the professionals, then double checks difficult results with a second opinion.

If you need a diagnosis and treatment for troubling symptoms, do yourself a favor. Don't waste your money by ordering a medical test yourself. Find a doctor you trust who will coordinate testing and interpret the results for you.

The money you save may be your own.

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