Tag Archives: health care costs

Direct access lab testing: Friend or foe?

In a world with rising health care costs, many are turning to alternative forms of care, which may or many not provide the benefits that patients are expecting.  One such alternative, direct access lab testing, is a means for patients to receive a variety of laboratory tests of their choosing without consulting with a physician.  While a proposed benefit is the ability to take more control over your health, other negative outcomes ensue: unnecessary tests contribute to increased overall health care spending, false positive and false negative results are difficult to interpret when tests are conducted in isolation, and individuals receiving poor results do not have the associated physician emotional and informational support that would be provided in a physician’s office.

For more information about direct access lab testing, listen or read this story by NPR.

Emory Study Finds that Lifestyle Intervention Programs Pose a Significant Means for Reducing Diabetes Progression

The January issue of Health Affairs features findings from an Emory University assessment of the effectiveness of real-world lifestyle interventions to help delay or prevent the costly chronic disease that affects nearly 26 million Americans.

The Emory team’s research found that weight loss was a primary intervention associated with reducing the progression to full blown type 2 diabetes, and concluded that the costs associated with diabetes prevention can be reduced without sacrificing effectiveness and that a focus on motivating participation in a structured lifestyle intervention program was the key driver of success in achieving the weight loss.

To learn more about the findings, we recommend reading How Effective Were Lifestyle Interventions In Real-World Settings That Were Modeled On The Diabetes Prevention Program?