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Comment by MichaelGG | Hacker News Reader

Does this mean that I'll be able to walk in and order my own blood tests in the US, without being extorted by a doctor? I see zero reason for me to be forced to schedule time with a doctor, pay her, just for her to "order" tests and have the results sent only to her, and then pay her again to read them back to me.

I get regular liver checks due to medication I take. Being able to walk into a lab and download the results online is a great convenience, but not something allowed in the US at the moment (to my knowledge).

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You can already do that, through lef.org, among others. You get a discount on the tests if you pay for a membership with the site, but it doesn't appear to be necessary.

(I'm neither a member, nor a customer, but I stumbled across their site a while back, doing some research about a health issue I ended up not having, anyway...)

Is that how it works in the US?

I can get any blood test I want in Poland, everyday, as long as I pay for it. You need a prescription for procedures like X-rays, which have possible adverse effects, or for blood tests if you want them to be covered by the state health insurance.

Their website said you still need a doctor's note. It would be nice to avoid that in the future, I'd get cheap tests done all the time just out of curiosity.

Yes, I'm not sure about the types of tests that are done but if there are some that you could run periodically to compare numbers, it might prove useful to monitor how one's body changes over time.

Do note that this is a state by state issue. You are held hostage by the medical establishment in NY, much less so in CO.

This comment looks strange to me. While I'm pretty new in the US, I find the exact procedure you're describing quite easy. All I need to do is leave an online message for my doctor asking to prescribe the test. They usually answer within hours - and I can go to the nearest lab. That, of course, given that I actually need these tests done and don't just fall on my doctor out of the sky. It sounds like you have a known condition so the doctor should have no problem figuring out why you're asking for a test.

Time to change your healthcare provider, maybe?

There are companies that take orders directly from patients and provide results back directly as well. Just google for "online lab tests" and look at the top few. They go through a doctor, but they basically rubber stamp the test order. They don't typically provide interpretation services nor are they covered by insurance (afaik). They do however, return results to you as soon as their back from the lab and typically work with labcorp or quest so you probably won't have to change your routine.

This capability depends on your medical care provider in the US. I know that Sutter Health and Kaiser are both providing patients with systems where they can see their lab results on the web, along with all of their medical history. Reaching out to your doctor via email is even included. It works pretty well in my experience (Sutter).

You're paying for her expertise in reading the results and making a diagnosis. Sure, the Theranos charts come back with indicators that show if your values are "normal" or not, but if your health situation is complex, self-diagnosis might be a bad thing.

checkout wellnessfx... affordable, nice design, pretty easy (although they use a big needle), and they track results over time.

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