QuickMedical(R) Launches CardioChek Cholesterol Monitor for Home Use
According to QuickMedical, most people get lab tests after their doctor recommends one during an office visit. Now, a growing number of consumers are saving time and expense of seeing a physician and are ordering up their own tests, with heart-relate
Online, October 18, 2011 (Newswire.com) - QuickMedical announced today availability of the new CardioCheck cholesterol testing device for home use. Manufactured by Polymer Technology Systems, the CardioChek® is a hand-held analyzer used with test strips to measure specific whole blood indicators related to heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions. The analyzer can hold up to 30 results in memory and can be programmed in one of six languages.
"With higher insurance deductibles, people don't want to pay the fees for repeated checkups by their doctor," said Scott Hanna, CEO at QuickMedical. "Doing a blood test at home for cholesterol, triglycerides and A1C will save both time and money."
If a patient decides to use an outside (online) testing service, doctors recommend that consumers should be careful about which testing services they trust. They also shouldn't cut their physicians out of the loop. Doctors can provide key guidance before a patient orders a test about whether it is worthwhile and can explain the numbers after the results are in. "There are a host of factors that go into whether a test is needed, warranted, or a waste of money," says Roland Goertz, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Consumers can now purchase kits and analyzers that will to do some basic blood tests; including tests for cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, glucose and more. QuickMedical sells a reusable lipid-testing analyzer called the CardioChek and it comes with a free hard carrying case.
Loren Timmons, Director of Marketing at QuickMedical said, "This economy has left some people without insurance coverage, and that has helped fuel the home testing kits and online testing companies. Even many people with coverage are facing bigger deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses."
The Food and Drug Administration, which has approved some home-use cholesterol tests, says on its website that these devices should be as accurate as those available at a doctor's office, if users follow the directions.
Doctors say interpreting test results is more than reading a number. Heart-related lab findings, should be evaluated as part of the patients health profile, and that would include factors such as family history and blood pressure. "No test should be interpreted in isolation," says Thomas Behrenbeck, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. That's because tests like those for cholesterol "denote risk factors, they do not diagnose disease."
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Tags: cholesterol, medical supplies and equipment
