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I live in Canada, despite being free this would be way more complicated to get. I don't want to be political, but just paying for this would be very appealing.

by andy99 1y ago

stavros 1y ago
I live in Greece, I can go to a lab, order this, and pay for it. I actually did, the other day, though it was free because the government happens to be running a Lp(a) testing program right now. Can you not get private labs in Canada?
- andy99 1y ago
  I've always thought you need a requisition from a doctor, you can't just go pay for something, that's the only way I've seen it done. At least I've never seen services like the OP advertised, that's why I was stricken by it. (Happy to be corrected)
  - stavros 1y ago
    Hm, over here you need a prescription for medication, but you can do whatever test you want to pay for. I don't know about Canada, though.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- brandonb 1y ago
  Interesting that you can do this in Greece. In the US, a doctor has the order the labs. (Direct-to-consumer lab testing technically exists, but is always ordered by a doctor.)
  - stavros 1y ago
    To be fair, I don't think anyone actually does it, because who will do their own bloods, but you definitely can. Labs expect to see an order from the doctor, because that's what 99.9% of people have, but they're happy if you just pay out of pocket too.
    - andy99 1y ago
      The reason I would do it, or do it when in the US is just the convenience. Seeing a doctor is complicated and obviously involves at least one extra step. If you just go and get the tests and have the info, it simplifies things, which is presumably the reason why these direct to consumer options exist in the US. It's interesting to hear that notionally they have the same model as us of a doctor needing to prescribe the test. The difference in Canada is that private healthcare is not available so you are forced to deal with the public system and the pace and inconvenience that entails.
      - stavros 1y ago
        No, the doctor doesn't need to prescribe the test, you can test whatever you want. It's just that the vast majority of people don't test anything unless a doctor tells them to.
      - pixl97 1y ago
        There are places like 'Any Lab Test Now' in the US that are cash/card and do a large number of tests like this without a prescription.
    - froglets 1y ago
      In the US you can buy 100+ tests from Quest Labs directly, the price even includes a discussion with MD about the results.
    - jjmarr 1y ago
      In Ontario the doctor gives me a requisition form with the blood tests they want to do. I take that to whatever bloodwork chain is closest to me, they do the test, and get reimbursed by the government. I don't think any of those chains have the credit card readers or cash registers to take payment from me even if they wanted to.
- okr 1y ago
  What is the purpose of running lp(a) testing, if i may ask? Just for knowing the risk factor and dealing with it? As far as i know there is no easy way for dealing with it once and for all times (gene editing...)
nradov 1y ago
Lots of Canadians come to the USA as medical tourists and pay out of pocket for treatments they can't get (or have to wait for) at home.
amatecha 1y ago
Seriously. It's infuriating how hard it is to get "non-essential" diagnostics.
zukzuk 1y ago
There are easily accessible direct-to-consumer startups in Canada that do this sort of testing. I did mine a while back with Nia Health. Every marker on the OP’s list was included. You will have to pay out of pocket, but the cost was not unreasonable when i did it.
- andy99 1y ago
  Thank this looks interesting though I do see it's a very early stage startup (and inexplicably subscription based which appears to just be a naked cash grab).
  - zukzuk 1y ago
    It was not a subscription when I did it a year or two ago, but I guess the one-off model may not have worked out. I work in this field and the economics of doing something like this with a D2C model in Canada are not great. People are just not used to exchanging money for healthcare.
    - karlgkk 1y ago
      subscription model makes sense, unfortunately if you're doing a one-off, it's almost certainly part of a checkup or otherwise ordered by a doctor. any followups will be under their care too if you're like me, with a longer term health condition that requires periodic measurement, then this actually makes a ton of sense
petesergeant 1y ago
I’ve used getmaple.ca for this kinda thing. You end up using web chat to ask a NP for what you want and it gets done. All said, lack of private medical care in general has played a big part in stopping me moving to Canada.
vixen99 1y ago
I live in Romania. You can have whatever test you want if they can do it. Mostly they can at least in our central area. No doctor's note needed.

I live in Canada, despite being free this would be way more complicated to get. I don't want to be political, but just paying for this would be very appealing.

by andy99 1y ago

I live in Canada, despite being free this would be way more complicated to get. I don't want to be political, but just paying for this would be very appealing.

stavros 1y ago

I live in Greece, I can go to a lab, order this, and pay for it. I actually did, the other day, though it was free because the government happens to be running a Lp(a) testing program right now. Can you not get private labs in Canada?

andy99 1y ago
I've always thought you need a requisition from a doctor, you can't just go pay for something, that's the only way I've seen it done. At least I've never seen services like the OP advertised, that's why I was stricken by it. (Happy to be corrected)
- stavros 1y ago
  Hm, over here you need a prescription for medication, but you can do whatever test you want to pay for. I don't know about Canada, though.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
brandonb 1y ago
Interesting that you can do this in Greece. In the US, a doctor has the order the labs. (Direct-to-consumer lab testing technically exists, but is always ordered by a doctor.)
- stavros 1y ago
  To be fair, I don't think anyone actually does it, because who will do their own bloods, but you definitely can. Labs expect to see an order from the doctor, because that's what 99.9% of people have, but they're happy if you just pay out of pocket too.
  - andy99 1y ago
    The reason I would do it, or do it when in the US is just the convenience. Seeing a doctor is complicated and obviously involves at least one extra step. If you just go and get the tests and have the info, it simplifies things, which is presumably the reason why these direct to consumer options exist in the US. It's interesting to hear that notionally they have the same model as us of a doctor needing to prescribe the test. The difference in Canada is that private healthcare is not available so you are forced to deal with the public system and the pace and inconvenience that entails.
    - stavros 1y ago
      No, the doctor doesn't need to prescribe the test, you can test whatever you want. It's just that the vast majority of people don't test anything unless a doctor tells them to.
    - pixl97 1y ago
      There are places like 'Any Lab Test Now' in the US that are cash/card and do a large number of tests like this without a prescription.
  - froglets 1y ago
    In the US you can buy 100+ tests from Quest Labs directly, the price even includes a discussion with MD about the results.
  - jjmarr 1y ago
    In Ontario the doctor gives me a requisition form with the blood tests they want to do. I take that to whatever bloodwork chain is closest to me, they do the test, and get reimbursed by the government. I don't think any of those chains have the credit card readers or cash registers to take payment from me even if they wanted to.
okr 1y ago
What is the purpose of running lp(a) testing, if i may ask? Just for knowing the risk factor and dealing with it? As far as i know there is no easy way for dealing with it once and for all times (gene editing...)

nradov 1y ago

Lots of Canadians come to the USA as medical tourists and pay out of pocket for treatments they can't get (or have to wait for) at home.

amatecha 1y ago

Seriously. It's infuriating how hard it is to get "non-essential" diagnostics.

zukzuk 1y ago

There are easily accessible direct-to-consumer startups in Canada that do this sort of testing. I did mine a while back with Nia Health. Every marker on the OP’s list was included. You will have to pay out of pocket, but the cost was not unreasonable when i did it.

andy99 1y ago
Thank this looks interesting though I do see it's a very early stage startup (and inexplicably subscription based which appears to just be a naked cash grab).
- zukzuk 1y ago
  It was not a subscription when I did it a year or two ago, but I guess the one-off model may not have worked out. I work in this field and the economics of doing something like this with a D2C model in Canada are not great. People are just not used to exchanging money for healthcare.
  - karlgkk 1y ago
    subscription model makes sense, unfortunately if you're doing a one-off, it's almost certainly part of a checkup or otherwise ordered by a doctor. any followups will be under their care too if you're like me, with a longer term health condition that requires periodic measurement, then this actually makes a ton of sense

petesergeant 1y ago

I’ve used getmaple.ca for this kinda thing. You end up using web chat to ask a NP for what you want and it gets done. All said, lack of private medical care in general has played a big part in stopping me moving to Canada.

vixen99 1y ago

I live in Romania. You can have whatever test you want if they can do it. Mostly they can at least in our central area. No doctor's note needed.