UnitedHealthcare has announced that it will begin providing at-home screening kits to its customers, which will allow patients to determine their risk of heart disease and diabetes without visiting a laboratory. The kits, made by BioIQ, will require patients to extract a blood sample and mail it in to a lab, which will then analyze the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose in the sample. Following analysis, the test results and some health recommendations are made available to the patient via a secure website.
From the press release:
The national launch of the at-home screening kits follows a UnitedHealthcare pilot program last year with select employers in the state of Washington. The program resulted in helping to identify about 10 percent of participating employees as having high cholesterol and 4 percent as having elevated indicators for diabetes.
Spokane, Wash.-based ACRAnet was one of more than 80 firms that participated in the pilot. “Employees were very receptive to the program, in part because the tests were easy, accurate and, most importantly, private,” said Preston Ritter, ACRAnet assistant general manager. “The program helped keep our health care costs down, enhanced employee productivity and improved the overall health of our work force.”
Press release: UnitedHealthcare Wellness Programs Now Available with at-Home Health Screening Kits…
BioIQ’s test kits…