Not a recognized health expert, but don’t dismiss Cuban just yet

Is Blood Testing the Next Thing? Is Mark Cuban Right (again)?

4 min readJun 10, 2015

Bypass the Doctor’s Office and Test Your Blood Directly?

You may have heard the health stir caused by a recent Mark Cuban tweet. Cuban, with 3 million Twitter followers, plus 8 million Shark Tank viewers, is social media relevant, if not (yet) widely considered a health expert. So when he Tweeted to his followers they should test their blood quarterly, a mini-firestorm ensued. For background, read this and this, or perhaps a more nuanced view from Dr. Florence Comite here. The man doesn’t shy away from controversy.

Still, Cuban may be on to something.

I started tracking some health basics when I joined the Navy. Later, in my 20’s, it was catch-as-catch-can to see a doctor. However, by my 30’s an annual exam was more or less a habit, though I found the front office staff wasn’t thrilled about reading off each lab result. After a while I lost track of both the doctor’s office number and my cholesterol count.

Now into my 40’s, about two and a half years ago I started a food experiment on the side, a mostly low carb diet. I began to feel better and became curious about what other impact it may be having. So when I stumbled across a Dave Asprey podcast interview with Tim Ferriss where they discussed blood testing, I interpreted as a sign to re-engage.

A Google search led me to Health Testing Centers, where I initially paused from choice overload. After a few minutes, however, I selected the “Essential Health Screening” package for $89. Packed with more tests than I had ever received via my old approach, healthcare consumerism is clearly well underway. I also count four layers of middlemen I’m removing from the traditional healthcare payment and delivery model; it doesn’t take a business degree to recognize the potential savings to my pocketbook.

Health Testing Centers has service agreements with both Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, two of the largest players in the lab testing market. I had many location options, as well as dates and times. The lab results will be emailed to me within a few days, perhaps sooner.

I’ll have more to think about once the results arrive. For now, whether Cuban is right or wrong, I’m just pleased by the price and convenience of it all. And who knows, by reducing barriers to access — more convenient, lower cost — this may even become a habit.

Thanks for reading. Comments and suggestions for other topics welcome.

Below are a few other posts on my experience with digital health:

· “The Future of Healthcare is Now: My Teladoc Story”

· “Why I Questioned My Surgeon’s Advice. And Glad I Did”

· “Healthcare’s New Model: Pandora, Digital Ads, and Consumerism?”

· “Mobile Health Apps: One Parent’s Maiden Voyage”

· “Is ‘Fee for Service’ Medicine Inevitable?”

· “Your 401(k) and the New Retirement Savings Rules”

Below are reviews of popular titles in the health space:

· Dr. Eric Topol’s “The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands” here.

· Steven Brill’s “America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System” here.

· Athenahealth Co-Founder and CEO, Jonathan Bush, “Where Does It Hurt: An Entreprenuer’s Guide to Fixing Health Care” here.