Blood Testing — A Window into Your Health and Financial Wellness
In some ways staying healthy has never been easier. Every day a new diet, fitness gadget or scientific survey is released to support us along our journey to discover a better version of ourselves. Within the smart phone ecosystem, where Apple iTunes offers over two million apps and Google Play nearly three, one can find calorie counters, cooking guides, exercise and workout trainers, guided medication, health accessories, nutrition education, nursing care, and sleep trackers, among many others.
While the options can feel overwhelming, software apps and wearable gadgets are indeed a positive step. However, as friendly and convenient as these offerings have become, they can only tell us so much. Personalized recommendations, and the algorithms supporting them, remain limited to the information available.
Sensor Data and What Lies Beneath
Despite the scientific advances and software intelligence, Mother Nature will not reveal everything so easily. Looking underneath the skin to determine what is happening inside each of us is no less necessary today than a decade ago, when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone.
As scientists and medical professionals know, molecular biology is “fiendishly difficult.” Your heart rate monitor is a good start, but no substitute for comprehensive health monitoring. To provide a more complete picture the health care community relies on your blood stream.
In the Flow
Many, many biological processes leave tell tale markers in our circulatory system. Responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients to our cells, while clearing away the remains, blood also carries our “first responders,” the immune system responding to foreign — and in some case domestic, but trouble causing — invaders. Not only can your blood provide clues to how you are feeling today, it can also shed light on tomorrow and the future.
An Ounce of Prevention, a Pound of Cure
Knowing what lies ahead can help us avoid hazards. Most biological processes are slow acting, developing over years and even decades. Sometimes the best treatments are actually lifestyle intervention. Knowing where to look and what to adjust before a condition develops can literally be priceless, and life-altering.
At the same time, in an era of rising health care costs, consumers are understandably searching for better value. Employers no longer cover the costs of everything free of charge. With each passing benefit open enrollment cycle, health care insurance premiums and usage costs (co-pays, deductibles, etc.) take more from our payroll deposits. The more we save, the more is ours to keep.
Fortunately for health care consumers, healthcare providers are responding. Information once limited to your doctor can now be yours at (almost) the click of a button. Many tests and procedures ordered by doctors are also available directly to consumers, often at discounted rates. Whether these are X-rays, MRIs or blood tests, shopping around can add up to big savings.
Further, most of us could benefit from more periodic health monitoring. While we tend to limit our health care visits to periods of acute care, early diagnostics can often provide warning signs allowing us to intervene before an expensive, medically supervised treatment is required. Lowering monitoring costs has the added benefit of increasing access, enabling more of us to engage in our health.
Welcome to the Age of Amazon in Consumer Health
I discovered Health Testing Centers (HTC) after reading a handful of books on the state of health care and growing consumer options. Curious about what I had been reading, I entered “blood tests” into my browser. Sure enough, all the tests contained in my health records were available to me, plus many, many more.
With so much access now at my fingertips I began to wonder what else I should be looking for?
The site itself is easy to navigate. Blood tests are grouped by categories as well as helpful “frequently ordered” prompts. Tests range from allergy and anemia to hormone, liver and thyroid function, as well as vitamins and STDs, with dozens of others.
I had Amazon-like options available to me, with the only real, and mostly mental, barrier being the actual blood draw.
But Who Likes Needles?
Much to my surprise the actual blood draw was not just painless, but practically imperceptible. “Butterfly” needles are just the thing for those of us who don’t like the thought of voluntarily puncturing our skin, which I understand from the technician, is most of us.
I had to focus to even feel the needle, and I’m not sure I actually could feel it. Six vials were taken in what felt like 30 seconds, while also removing a life-long mental barrier.
The results posted in my account a few days later. I reviewed with HTC staff and have a general plan for follow-up monitoring in the next 4–6 months. With the cost and ease of such an important element of health monitoring, easy to see how this becomes part of my routine. I suspect the information will become increasingly useful as the health care community ties variables to more customized recommendations.
Finally, as I’ve recently discovered, arriving to a doctor’s office with blood tests and trend analysis prepared tends to distinguish you from the other patients. Who doesn’t like an engaged customer?
Exciting times lie ahead.
Taking Charge of Your Health
My experience is becoming more and more common, and perhaps even necessary. As Dr. Davis, author of the NYT Bestseller “Wheat Belly” and more recently, “Undoctored” describes, consumers must take control of their own health care. The medical system is chronically understaffed; doctors’ schedules are increasingly carved up to improve patient throughput and facility efficiency. Further still, the types of tests doctors can run without specific evidence is often limited, that is if they want patients to remain on good terms with their health insurance carriers and minimize claims rejections.
There is growing recognition within the healthcare community that lifestyle decisions can have even greater benefits than prescription medications, particularly when implemented early in a disease cycle. Concierge and integrative medicine are just two of the more recent trends to better address wellness and improve health outcomes.
What to Do
HTC offers a broad array of tests, covering general health topics from diabetes and immunization, to prostate and thyroid function, in addition to many others. I wanted to re-establish my cholesterol and heart health baseline, and establish a review process that would help me detect trends over time.
In future posts I’ll describe the tests I ordered, as well as what I was looking for and why.
Discount Code for Health Testing Centers
For those who do not want to wait on future posts, Health Testing Centers is offering HSA Coach users a 20% discount off their already retail-friendly prices. Use discount code HSA20.
About Aaron Benway, CFP, EA — Aaron is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)and IRS Enrolled Agent (EA). He co-founded HSA Coach, a digital tool to educate consumers on HSAs, track health expenses and other documents, and provide individual financial calculators, to help consumers get the most from their HSA and other savings. To help individuals directly with their financial planning and wealth management requirements he founded AB Financial Planning.
Prior to HSA Coach Aaron was the CFO of HelloWallet, a financial wellness software startup purchased by investment research firm Morningstar. Earlier in his career Aaron was an investor at The Carlyle Group and a nuclear engineer in the US Navy. Aaron has an Electrical Engineering degree from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Aaron lives in the Washington DC area with his wife and two children.
