On a typical day of getting blood drawn, I have to get in my car, fight through traffic to get to a lab, wait around in an uncomfortable chair, get the blood drawn, and finally return home. To wrap it up succinctly, it’s not exactly the world’s most convenient process.
Recently, I had a conversation with Peter Foley, founder of LetsGetChecked. A few years ago, he also noticed this inconvenience. Though Foley holds a law degree and has a background in corporate banking, he noticed that many people’s access to care was lower than it should be. Furthermore, the growth rate of issues was higher than traditional screening abilities.
To do things better, he founded LetsGetChecked. At its core, “LetsGetChecked is all about personal health testing, making healthcare and health screening open and patient-led, empowering people to use technology in a simple but powerful way and giving greater control of their personal health.”
It’s a technology and clinical service company that allows consumers to order blood tests at home.
The company does all the manufacturing of the required items and ships a kit to the consumer’s home. Once received, he/she collects blood samples in the comfort of their own home through a finger prick and send it back to LetsGetChecked.
The company analyzes it in their lab. After results are done, a member of the medical care team calls the consumer with their data. The information is also available on the online portal for referencing at any point.
In talking with Foley, he made two things clear about LetsGetChecked. First, the medical team is available the whole way through the process. In Foley’s words, “the human element is so critical. An automated service is too clinical.”
Second, LetsGetChecked is not intended to replace standard doctor care.
Instead, it’s to help complement the current model of medical screening. Foley constantly reiterated that it is critical to maintain a strong relationship with a primary care doctor. LetsGetCheck’s lab work can help get testing done ahead of time. If you can come into a doctor’s appointment with results already done, it has the potential to speed up the treatment process. This different (and potentially better) way of managing testing could literally be a “difference between living and dying.”
By the end of our conversation, I was intrigued and wanted to try a kit out for myself. He graciously agreed to let me try out a kit and I selected the Male Hormone Advanced kit. After the kit arrived, it was a quick and (mostly) painless experience. Turns out, I am quite the wimp with finger pricks.
A few days later, their customer care team contacted me with the results. All of my levels were within the normal range. Foley was correct in saying how important the human element was in this process. Knowing my diagnosis of testicular cancer, they took the time to make sure I fully understood my results.
I was also curious about Foley’s thoughts on men’s health in general.
He feels that men don’t necessarily choose to neglect their health. In some cases, he thinks they put it in the back of their minds and don’t prioritize talking about themselves. To him, putting off getting medical tests done “isn’t [always] an embarrassment issue; it’s about convenience.”
As I said in my opening, the current system isn’t always the most efficient. Foley drew comparisons to Netflix and Amazon Prime. Whether it’s a movie, television series, or assorted products, we now pretty much expect things immediately, and “healthcare should be no different.”
They are definitely living up to the ideals of those other companies. Just like Prime and Netflix, LetsGetChecked can all be done from the comfort of your own couch… Just don’t mix up your vial of blood with your beverage of choice.
Originally published on A Ballsy Sense of Tumor.
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