The medical world is forever evolving, with new medications, new surgical techniques, new monitoring devices, and more streamlined avenues for diagnosis. The goal is to benefit both patient and practitioner, making examining, diagnosing, and treating more efficient and effective. One way the medical establishment has aimed to do this is through at home laboratory testing kits, improving accessibility to numerous patients across the world.
These home-based kits are given by practitioners to patients or even mailed directly to the patient’s home for them to complete themselves at a time that is convenient for them. Following collection, the patient then mails or returns the sample to the lab for processing. There are both pros and cons to this method, but as more companies provide this option, it has become clear that these at home kits are likely the future of medicine.
Accessibility is a major advantage to these at home testing kits. The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report in 2021 stated access to healthcare is defined as the “timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes”. An individual’s accessibility has historically varied based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and residential location (1). The benefit of these at home kits is that for patients it bypasses issues regarding residential location, transportation to healthcare offices, and in some cases other factors by improving privacy concerns. In addition, more thorough testing can be achieved if needed, as samples can be collected easily over various timespans without patients having to return for repeat draws (ie: hormone testing). This ultimately improves not only access, but patient compliance as well.
Another advantage is autonomy in testing. Some labs offer various labs individuals can order on their own accord at an affordable price. For practitioners, especially those in primary care, this relieves some of the administrative burden, a major contributor to burnout in the family medicine field. Patients can arrive with some baseline information or even do some straightforward testing on their own, streamlining visits. For patients, especially those without health insurance or with high deductible plans, the lower cost can provide an avenue for evaluation they previously were unable to do, letting them prioritize their health needs.
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That being said, there are some disadvantages. For one, many of these labs are not yet covered by insurance, so though it may decrease the overall healthcare costs for some, it may increase it for others. This is especially true for more specialized testing, such as those ordered by functional and integrative medical providers. The hope is that as time goes on, more insurance policies will cover these tests, especially when ordered by medical providers.
In addition, at home testing does leave more room for collection error. Medical providers, including phlebotomists and lab technicians, have extensive training in how to appropriately obtain, prepare, store, and ship samples, the lay person does not. This could result in needs for retesting or inaccurate results. Thankfully, many of these home tests use finger pricks, salivary, or urinary samples with clear instructions. AYUMETRIX, a leading salivary testing laboratory has solved many such sample collection problems by having clear instructions in place as well as sample collection videos for end users to watch on their website www.ayumetrix.com.
Finally, because many of these tests do use alternative sources for their samples, research hasn’t fully caught up. Serum testing via an in-office lab has been used for many years, with reference ranges and evaluation of results based on that reservoir of data. Many of these home tests use saliva or urine as they are more easily collected by patients; evaluating results may be a bit more obscure because of this. The good news is however, with more and more patients taking advantage of these at home options, the data used for determining accurate reference ranges is always increasing. AYUMETRIX has developed age, sex, supplantation based reference ranges for saliva tests. Within a short time, this disadvantage should be resolved.
In the medical community, both for practitioners and patients, at home laboratory testing is becoming more and more popular. Regardless of ones’ opinion, these tests likely are the medicine of the future, understanding the pros and cons both as a patient and practitioner is essential for maintaining quality care. The hope is that these tests fill a void much needed in the healthcare system, providing more effective and efficient treatments for the whole community.
- Mary Hall, ND, LAc
References:
1. “2021 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report”. 2021. National Library of Medicine. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US). Online.
