By: Rick Rauch, Drewry Simmons Vornehm, LLP
DO YOU HATE DRIVING TO AND THEN SITTING IN A PHYSICIAN’S WAITING ROOM? With the evolution of the internet, visiting a physician for some tests may no longer be necessary. Online companies are now offering Virtual testing. It is an online collaboration tool to get tests and more from the comfort of your own home. Virtual Lab Testing connects a user with a nurse practitioner through telemedicine for pre- and post-testing consults. I know of allergy and STD online testing available right now. Here is how it works: you download an App and follow the instructions. Among other things, you will be asked to provide your information, sign online consents and a lab will mail you a “Kit.” Once received, you will follow the instructions. The app user takes a blood sample and collects approximately three drops of blood. You return the blood sample to the lab (in a provided envelope) and, in a week or two, you can check the test results on your App …right on your phone. You will be diagnosed and receive the results all through the App, while never even leaving your house or having to sit in a waiting room. For example, for the Allergy test, the patient will discover within two weeks whether he or she has any of 30 food or environmental allergies.
With some Apps, a healthcare provider will contact the patient, go over the results and suggest treatment if the results are positive. It is up to the patient to decide what to do with the results. As this new technology proliferates, additional tests will become available. Now that is CONVENIENCE.