Genius Blood Testing.

[Ema]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/02/elizabeth-holmes-theranos/

"Phlebotomy. Even the word sounds archaic—and that’s nothing compared to the slow, expensive, and inefficient reality of drawing blood and having it tested. As a college sophomore, Elizabeth Holmes envisioned a way to reinvent old-fashioned phlebotomy and, in the process, usher in an era of comprehensive superfast diagnosis and preventive medicine.

That was a decade ago. Holmes, now 30, dropped out of Stanford and founded a company called Theranos with her tuition money. Last fall it finally introduced its radical blood-testing service in a Walgreens pharmacy near company headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (The plan is to roll out testing centers nationwide.) Instead of vials of blood—one for every test needed—Theranos requires only a pinprick and a drop of blood. With that they can perform hundreds of tests, from standard cholesterol checks to sophisticated genetic analyses. The results are faster, more accurate, and far cheaper than conventional methods."

 

[SOC]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/02/elizabeth-holmes-theranos/

"Phlebotomy. Even the word sounds archaic—and that’s nothing compared to the slow, expensive, and inefficient reality of drawing blood and having it tested. As a college sophomore, Elizabeth Holmes envisioned a way to reinvent old-fashioned phlebotomy and, in the process, usher in an era of comprehensive superfast diagnosis and preventive medicine.

That was a decade ago. Holmes, now 30, dropped out of Stanford and founded a company called Theranos with her tuition money. Last fall it finally introduced its radical blood-testing service in a Walgreens pharmacy near company headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (The plan is to roll out testing centers nationwide.) Instead of vials of blood—one for every test needed—Theranos requires only a pinprick and a drop of blood. With that they can perform hundreds of tests, from standard cholesterol checks to sophisticated genetic analyses. The results are faster, more accurate, and far cheaper than conventional methods."

Imagine not having to give 12 vials of blood when you're already struggling with low blood volume.

 

[Ema]

I hope she makes a fortune. She deserves it.

Did you see her price list examples???

 

[SOC]

I hope she makes a fortune. She deserves it.

Did you see her price list examples???

Yeah! Wow! Less than 50% of current Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates. That would be wonderful.

I also liked her comment about this making more possible for doctors to look at trends instead of single in-range, out-of-range data points. Way smarter and more scientifically sound.

 

[Ema]

$

Yeah! Wow! Less than 50% of current Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates. That would be wonderful.

I also liked her comment about this making more possible for doctors to look at trends instead of single in-range, out-of-range data points. Way smarter and more scientifically sound.

All I can say is "Hurry up!!"

$20 for a Vit D test that Labcorp tried to charge me $250 for last fall.

It's about time we had some news in this direction.

 

[xchocoholic]

Wow. Talk about a game changer.

Any thoughts on why she hooked up with Walgreens? Or why Walgreens hooked up with her? Why not market this medical facilities or hospitals? I was thinking children's hospital would love this idea.

At first I thought Theranos did this so patients could have access to this info but everything I read stated it would give doctors quicker results.


Anyone near an existing facility ? I didn't find any other than the Palo Alto Walgreens one but I didn't spend a lot of time googling.

 

[Ema]

I would guess they just said doctors because patients' rights to labs vary by state.

I can't see why it would be any different though in states where patients can get access to their labs directly already.

 

[*GG*]

Wow. Talk about a game changer.

Any thoughts on why she hooked up with Walgreens? Or why Walgreens hooked up with her? Why not market this medical facilities or hospitals? I was thinking children's hospital would love this idea.

At first I thought Theranos did this so patients could have access to this info but everything I read stated it would give doctors quicker results.

Anyone near an existing facility ? I didn't find any other than the Palo Alto Walgreens one but I didn't spend a lot of time googling.

This sounds like it could really rock the apple cart, this will likely hurt hospitals' bottom lines, they are like big gov't, slow to change and technology. Not surprised that a hospital would not be affiliated with this.

GG

 

[xchocoholic]

I was thinking that a children's hospital would've been interested since getting blood from kids is such a challenge.

Love the idea tho and can't wait to try it.
I only found the palo alro one.

 

[Little Bluestem]

It will be wonderful to be able to afford to get more things tested and/or get tests more often. That will make it easier to track treatment results.

 

[Hip]

Apparently there are currently three Theranos Wellness Centers already open where you can get these extraordinarily inexpensive blood tests performed, inside Walgreens stores at these locations:

Walgreens, 300 University Ave, Palo Alto, California 94301
Opening times: M-F 7a-9p; Sat-Sun 9a-6p

Walgreens, 3402 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012
Opening times: M-F 6a-10p; Sat-Sun 8a-10p

Walgreens, 6501 E Greenway Parkway, Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
Open: M-F 8a-10p; Sat 9a-6p; Sun 10a-6p


Source: here.

It will be interesting to hear from anyone who lives near these locations and tries out one of these revolutionary blood tests.

The Theranos website is here: www.theranos.com

On this page of their website, they say: "Providers, introduce your practice, and a Theranos representative will call and register you to start sending us samples."

So clearly Theranos already have a system where you can send blood samples to them by mail, and get your tests done that way, as long as this is done via a provider (presumably a doctor, or possibly health practicians such as naturopaths, for example).

I wonder whether Theranos might also offer home testing kits. It might be worth asking them. Then ME/CFS patients who may find it hard to get to a clinic could send in their own blood samples. If all it requires is a drop of blood from a pin prick made on the skin (like a diabetic's pin prick test, I presume), then it should be very straightforward to do this yourself at home.

If not, then those people who visit a naturopath or similar might want to mention Theranos, so that your naturopath can register with them, and thereby get you various blood tests performed extraordinarily cheaply.

Sadly, I expect it will be many years before Theranos is available in the UK; but I'd love to try these tests.