Though not the first company to come up with this idea, the fact remains that LabSafe.com certainly is a groundbreaking Health 2.
0 service which allows users to order tests online without a medical indication, and then pop up in their local lab to have the samples taken. This service reduces costs and operating times, as you are not required to visit your doctor before taking the tests: patients schedule their tests in an average of one day, pay for them online, get their results informed by a doctor a couple of days after having the test done, and only then go to see their doctor with the printed copy of their results, which by the way does not go to any medical record unless the patient wants it to have it delivered there. The advantages of a system like this one are self-evident: since this company works on a national wholesale business model, its customers can get reduced rates for their lab tests, thus lowering the costs of medical treatment, which is always a good thing. Also, since you don’t need your doctor’s approval or medical insurance coverage, users can more freely choose to perform tests they would otherwise not be comfortable to take, thus empowering the patient to make his/her decisions about the best way to manage their health, and this is always a good reason for a medical company’s success. Similar sites offer some extra resources this one seems to be lacking, for instance a glossary or maybe links to online medical libraries where to learn about their test results; it would also be interesting to fix something along the lines of lab packs which would allow users to choose tests that can help them early detect risk for recurring conditions in their demographic group based on age, sex or family history parameters. 







