Cart behind  horse where it belongs – finally! Surely you have heard the expression, “don’t put the cart before the horse…”
Clinical medical decisions by MDs can now be  driven by the ‘horse’ of immediate information available from instant blood tests
Cart before the horse: Â Where we have been for years! Â Typically, feeling ill patients call their MD and schedule a visit. Â And, as a result of the visit the MD orders blood tests. And days or weeks can intervene before the blood test results get back to the MD. And then the MD schedules the patient in to discuss the results. All that may change soon. And for the better!
Soon, you the patient can call your MD who orders a blood test to be done that day at a  nearby pharmacy. Instead of taking vials of blood only one drop is taken from your finger. when your finger pricked. Within  a couple hours , all the tests  are done at the pharmacy  and you take your lab results with you to your medical  appointment. Then the rule in and rule out process central to medical diagnosis can begin — based on immediate, accurate information provided by the patient.
Now the ‘horse’ of reliable information drives the ‘cart’ of clinical decision  done by your physician.
And who put the cart behind the horse where it belongs?
Not Sherlock Holmes — but Elizabeth Holmes, drop out from Stanford. She is a 29 year old chemical and electrical engineer and entrepreneur. The first pharmacy to carry the instant blood tests will be Wallgreens in Palo Alto, California.
“Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes to empower individuals with actionable health information at the time it matters, enabling early detection and intervention of disease. Today, Theranos is revolutionizing the way that health information is collected, analyzed, and communicated.”
For more information about Theranos, visit http://www.theranos.com  To be added to a press list for future announcements, contact pr@theranos.com.
Written by Aptos Psychologist, Cameron Jackson. Â DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
See a recent Wall Street Journal article:  A Drop of Blood. An Instant Diagnosis  Saturday/Sunday September 7-8, 2013
