With 70% of medical decisions depending on lab results, experts highlight the toll of missed testing and the promise of alternative collection methods.
One in three patients avoid recommended blood tests due to anxiety or inconvenience, creating gaps in medical care that affect diagnoses, healthcare costs, and provider revenue, according to a panel discussion at HLTH in Las Vegas.
Web Golinkin, president of BetterWay, opened the presentation by noting that 70% of medical decisions depend on blood testing, yet patient avoidance remains a significant barrier to care. This gap results in missed diagnoses for patients, preventable expenses for payers, and lost revenue for providers, he explained.
Patient advocate Gaby Garcia-Pena shared her personal experience with needle anxiety during the panel, describing how she avoided blood testing for 15 years due to severe fear of needles. This avoidance led to constant worry about her health status and delayed medical care.
“There was this continuous, lingering worry that I was missing health issues. This anxiety built up to the point where I started thinking every little symptom could be a serious problem I had ignored. I couldn’t bring myself to get tested, because my fear of needles was stronger than my need for answers,” Garcia-Pena says.
Alternative Collection Methods Show Promise
Garcia-Pena described how fingertip blood collection methods changed her approach to testing, allowing her to overcome her long-standing avoidance of medical testing. She characterized the alternative method as a calm and quick experience that enabled her to resume regular health monitoring.
“Once I had an alternative, the fear vanished, and I was finally able to take proper care of my health,” Garcia-Pena says.
Golinkin emphasized that Garcia-Pena’s experience reflects challenges faced by millions of patients who could benefit from alternative blood collection approaches. He outlined how his company’s development process included clinical validation and testing to offer 67 different tests with a 79 Net Promoter Score.
Impact on Healthcare System
The panel discussion highlighted broader implications for the healthcare system when patients avoid necessary testing. Golinkin noted that the negative effects extend beyond individual patients to affect healthcare providers and payers.
“One in three people skip blood testing in the US due to needle anxiety or inconvenience. The negative impact this has on patients, providers, and payers is enormous. Patients suffer declining health because diagnoses are missed. Providers lose patients and revenue. Payers end up footing big bills that could have been avoided if the condition had been caught early,” Golinkin says.
Alternative blood testing technologies can make collection and sample preparation more efficient for providers by requiring minimal training and eliminating the need for phlebotomists, according to Golinkin. The panel concluded with discussion of how healthcare organizations might adopt patient-centered blood testing approaches to address testing avoidance.
Photo caption: Golinkin (right) and Garcia-Pena (left)
Photo credit: BetterWay
