Don’t Underestimate the Things Diagnostics Can Do

Finally scrubbing off the stain Theranos cast on the diagnostics industry, new technologies are popping up with groundbreaking use cases that can transform the way we diagnose disease. A drop of blood can now actually unveil a comprehensive picture of personalized health, it just took us a little longer to get here. These innovations are shifting the industry even further from reactive treatment to predictive, personalized healthcare. From discovering a nascent autoimmune condition before symptoms fully manifest to providing a remote community access to advanced diagnostics through a device no larger than a smartphone to identifying autism through a strand of hair, emerging technologies are truly amazing. Despite their wow-factor, will payers jump to reimburse these tests? And can health systems integrate these innovations without creating new economic barriers? The direct-to-consumer diagnostic market is gaining steam, hopefully pushing the traditional health system into a diagnostic-driven future.