Take Control: How Self-Testing is Revolutionizing Preventative Healthcare

At-home health testing has revolutionized preventative care, making it easier for patients to monitor their health without frequent doctor visits. We explore the expanding landscape of self-administered tests, from colorectal cancer screenings to at-home blood work, and discuss how these tools empower patients to take control of their wellness journey.

• Colorectal cancer screening now available through at-home Cologuard testing instead of traditional colonoscopy
• Cardiovascular and metabolic screenings through finger-prick blood tests that can be ordered directly by patients
• Cancer risk assessment tools that help identify potential risks, especially valuable for those with limited family history information
• At-home STI testing providing privacy and reducing stigma associated with sexual health screenings
• Important limitations of at-home testing including potential for false results and proper interpretation challenges
• Smart scales and other technology that help track BMI and body composition for metabolic health monitoring

Visit us at hamiltontelehealthcom or comment below to learn more about these testing options. Subscribe, follow, and like our content to stay updated on the latest in telehealth innovations.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Medical Disclaimer
• 1:13 Introduction to At-Home Testing Options
• 2:17 Cholesterol and Metabolic Screenings
• 4:30 Home Cancer Screenings and Risk Profiles
• 9:26 STI Testing and Limitations
• 11:57 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:17

Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Tattoos in Telehealth. I'm Cole Baldwin, board certified nurse practitioner, and this is my friend and colleague, kelly White, also board certified nurse practitioner, and we are two girls just chatting it up about different things on the medical landscape Sometimes, sometimes other things as well just chatting. Just a disclosure that our attorneys make us say this does not constitute a patient provider relationship and this is not to be construed as medical advice. We are just here giving some information based on our opinions, and that is it Always follow up with your provider, who knows you best, before starting or stopping any medical therapy. All right, kelly, so I'll let you take it from here.

Speaker 1: 0:59

Today we're going to talk about at home testing, things that you can do to help monitor your health and take control of your, of your wellness, and more and more there is.

Speaker 1: 1:12

With technology, especially since COVID and really just ongoing, there is more and more testing that you can do in order at home. There's now sleep studies that you can do and order at home. There's now sleep studies that you can do at home instead of going to the sleep center and being hooked up and wired for sound. There's labs, there's so many things. So today we're going to dive into what all are the things that you can do at home, and this is not an inclusive list. It's just some of the things that we wanted to talk about today. So, kelly, I'll let you take it from here to go over some of the things that patients can do at home to take control of their own health and really just take a step forward and take responsibility, because we know that doctors and doctor's offices providers in general are overworked and things can slip through the cracks and, ultimately, we are responsible for our own health.

Speaker 1: 2:01

So I'll let you take it from here.

Speaker 2: 2:03

Exactly. And you know, I think one of the things that kind of hit home with me this year and one of the reasons I wanted to cover this was so I turned 45 this year and you know they changed the age on when you had to do your colorectal cancer screenings to 45, but you can do it now with an at-home screening and doing Cologuard. And so I was able to do Cologuard this year, which was great because I didn't have to do a bowel prep, I didn't have to go get a colonoscopy, I didn't have to do any of that, I just did the kit at home. It was simple, I mailed it in, got the results. Boom, I'm good, and that made it so nice.

Speaker 2: 2:34

And so I started thinking about we've, like you said, we've come a long way. Especially, you know we've been doing, or you especially have been doing telehealth since way before COVID. But COVID really put that on the landscape for us. And now there are so many things that patients can do preventative you know preventative health checks that they don't have to go constantly be seen, which takes a lot of the burden off the healthcare system. So you've got things like high cholesterol screenings, blood sugar and diabetic screenings, metabolic syndrome, nutritional deficiencies, cancer screenings, genetic diseases certain ones can be ruled out at home STIs you can do at home. So there's a lot of stuff that people can do.

Speaker 2: 3:13

So if we think about things for like high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, so that's simple labs which you and I can do. You know we can do these labs for patients. They can come in and get just routine labs drawn your cholesterol, you can be fasting, have your A1C checked, diabetes screening you can do insulin sensitivity, grab your blood count. We can tell you if you're anemic. There's a lot of stuff that goes into that and even like a metabolic screening, you can go have those labs drawn. We can order them for you, do a quick follow-up, let you know what's normal, not normal, and it really gives you a snapshot of kind of where you're sitting and go over those labs with you, and it's a great way to cover a whole few quick things. And so, nicole, I know that you have had some access to things where patients can even do that like just like with a blood, like with clicking their finger too right, like they don't have to go get a blood draw.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Yeah. So now there's companies that will send you. You can actually order them yourself and you can get your blood. You know, get to get your prick your finger at home, put it on the little blood spot. It tells you how to do it and you send it off and then it comes back with all of these, all of these results and they're out. They're absolutely just incredible and they're super easy. You don't have to go to a lab the. Also there's the for patients who have gut health or lots of inflammation. She will order the uh, the stool test and a lot of that just to kind of get an idea of what's going on with with the gut. Those, those are also at home. At home there's. It's said you know, we order it, but it's sent to your home. Labs can be ordered by the patient now. So that's super nice, you can order them.

Speaker 1: 4:49

The only issue is is that when you order them, you really it's important to have somebody that interprets them properly for you, because you know there's different levels of different things. For instance, let's just say an A1C. If you're a known diabetic, then your reference range is a little bit different. If you're not a known but diabetic, then then that's you know. Then you're kind of in like the standard, you know, read, but what does that mean for you? And so it is important and that's one of the things that Kelly and I both take pride in is saying, okay, here's your labs. It's not okay, they're normal. Here you go, it's, here's what we checked. Here's why your bone marrow is healthy, your bread, you know. Your red blood cells are healthy. You're white, there's no signs of anemia. There's no signs of leukemia, kidney function, things like that. Because you don't want to wait until there's a problem. And then you're like wait a minute, what's going on?

Speaker 1: 5:34

Some hospital systems will also have like a month of mammograms. Right, they'll do like mammograms. I think around here it's in like November where you don't even need a prescription. You can just go in for a mammogram, and mammograms are super important and although that's not at home, you don't have to necessarily go to the doctor to get a prescription. You can come to Kelly and I we can write for it, or you. There's a certain time of year and someone in your area does them without a prescription. You can certainly do that as well.

Speaker 1: 6:01

The Coligard was great. I know tons of patients have done those. As long as you don't have a history of polyps, you can use those If you. As long as you don't have a strong family history, you can use those, and as long as you're not experiencing any difficulty. So you know, there is there is certain instances where you don't want to do that it's. You know, we definitely want to have someone actually go in the colon and take a look, but the Cologuard for most patients is very, very good option because most people aren't at high risk, right, and so it's a great, great option. I mean, it picks up DNA like just amazing, amazing amount of DNA. So these are all great. But yes, the blood, the blood test you poke your finger, you put it on the little thing and then you're done. You send it back and then you get your blood results.

Speaker 2: 6:43

So they're super, super helpful and great options just to take take control of your health, because you know no one else is going to be an advocate for your health and you know they even have like cervical cancer and HPV screenings you can do at home now and then Cole and I have been blessed to be able to partner with some companies that even provide like generalized cancer screenings and kind of what your risk looks like for that. And so you know, if you want to hear more about that, please, you know, please chat in or please go to our website and you know, hamilton telehealthcom, fill out our information form. We'll get you some information about that. But there's, there's screenings that you can do. That is like a just an overall cancer risk profile and it just basically lets you know. If I remember correctly, nicole, like you have cancer floating around or you don't, right?

Speaker 1: 7:30

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:31

I actually ordered one of those for myself. I need to get the blood drawn for it, but, yeah, absolutely, Absolutely, and that comes in a box and you know it gives you instructions on it. Some of the lab tests. You take the whole box to the lab and they draw for you or whatever, Some of them. It's a, it's a finger prick, it really just kind of depends. But yes, it will tell you if you have, if you have any risks of current risks of cancer, it will absolutely tell you that. So I heard one of those too, because I just, I just want to know, you know, I just I just want to know. It gives a lot of peace of mind.

Speaker 2: 7:59

Especially for people who don't know their family history, like maybe they're adopted or maybe their parents passed away when they were young or they don't have any. They don't have a relationship with their family, like maybe they don't know what their family history is and they just want to know. Is this something I need to be worried about?

Speaker 1: 8:24

And it is a great tool. And it's also a great tool for for small families who maybe didn't. You know, I one of one of our patients he is. He only has one brother and he's not very up on his health, but his mom was an only child. His dad has one brother, but he's passed, and so the family tree is very, very short. It's very small, and so sometimes you just don't have that information. You know, you don't have that genetic, that wide genetic pool to pull from, and so sometimes even just small families.

Speaker 1: 8:41

But, yeah, adoption, I mean all those things, but it's just peace of mind too, you know, it's just really, really just just peace of mind, especially if you know someone who's going through things and you're like, wow, I really want to get screened for that. It's super, super helpful and there's tons of stuff online, but you can order them without a lot of things. You can order without, without a prescriber actually writing you a prescription, but we are certainly ready and willing to help you interpret those at any time. So you're certainly welcome to make an appointment with us.

Speaker 2: 9:09

And then at-home screens for STIs. That's been a thing for a long time. I mean, I don't know about you, but I know I've interpreted a ton of those tests that patients you know order. They get them in the mail. It's super simple. They mail them back in and they get you know. They get that information and if it's positive we can certainly help treat you. But that's something you can do easily at home now too, and that was a huge game changer for a lot of people. You didn't have to go be seen in person and anonymity was a great thing. You didn't have to worry about stigma associated with it and you could get tested, treated, taken care of and just feel like you were being respected in that moment. And so that was a big thing. The at-home test for STIs that really was a game changer for a lot of people. But kind of wrapping that up, I want to touch base with there are still some limitations of at-home screenings, and keep in mind that sometimes, in many cases, at-home tests are not as accurate, because those are, you know, those are kits that come to you in the mail, then they're mailed back in, and so then you have that limitation of is it affected by the time that it's been in the mailbox. Is it heat, cold? You know it's tossed around in the. You know the carrier.

Speaker 2: 10:10

Then you have false negatives. False positives, user accuracy how well you took care of the test when you were at home. Follow the directions, do exactly as they tell you to. Again, sometimes there's lack of regulation or approval. If the FDA approved the test or this is something that is not necessarily considered on label, or they may or may not be conclusive. So there are some limitations to these tests.

Speaker 2: 10:30

But again, it's a huge leap from where we used to be and it's a great opportunity for patients to be able to not have to go be seen in person. Guys, we will walk you through that and we'll do the definitive test for you, order the definitive test for you and say, hey, if it's a false positive, let's figure it out for you. It still is just a great way for you to be able to know that you know if your provider is busy. You can't get in with one. You don't have a PCP or the. You know that's a, it's a. You know six, eight, 10 week wait list.

Speaker 2: 11:02

Then those are something that you can do at home and these are great ways that you can help take care of yourself and promote your own health and be be an advocate for your own health and wellness. You know, one thing we didn't touch on was those scales that you can put your information in, like your height and all that stuff, and it'll tell you your BMI, it'll tell you what your, what your you know weight, your fat ratio is, and it kind of helps you when you're looking at what your risk is for metabolic diseases. That helps gauge that scale too. So there's just so much out there.

Speaker 1: 11:32

We've really come a long ways yeah, there is so much out there and now it's like we get patients all the time and they're like okay, I took a home uti test, I had symptoms and they're positive for, you know, leukocytes or nitrates or whatever.

Speaker 1: 11:43

And it's like okay, that's cool, you know, and so it's becoming more and more accepted. You know that these tests are just are just done. But you know some doctor's offices for the primaries you go in, you get the lab for, you get the order for the labs and you got to go back for review. What I like to do personally, and it's just because I'm in this field, is I'll go get them, be even before the visit, you know I'll reach out to Kelly or whatever, and say hey, you know, I want these, these basic labs, and take them into my appointment so that I'm only having one appointment, right, so I'm not coming in, going back, going in, you know, so I can have them done beforehand, um, so that we're not, you know, just making two appointments. You know everybody's busy and that's a you know that's a copay, you know.

Speaker 1: 12:27

So you know you can always look into insurance coverage. If you're going to a regular lab, core stuff, you can always do that. You know a lot of the home tests. Some insurances cover it, some don't, but typically they're pretty reasonably priced. They're getting really, really low on their prices now.

Speaker 2: 12:41

So yeah, it really is All right, guys, so I hope that that helps. I hope this helps you to be an advocate for your own health and your own wellness. Again, if you have any questions, we're always here to support you. I'm Kelly White, this is Nicole Baldwin, and you can always find us at hamiltontelehealthcom or you can comment to the link below subscribe, follow, hit, like all those things but we're here to support you in any way we can and we hope to see you back soon.

Speaker 1: 13:06

All.