Clinical tips: Integrating DTC diagnostics into modern practice
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Home tests won’t ever replace the relationship between a patient and their family physician, but we know that these tests aren’t going anywhere.
—Elisabeth Fowlie Mock, MD
Direct-to-consumer diagnostics are becoming more popular, but what does that mean for your practice?
While patient-led at-home testing can boost patient autonomy, it can also increase physician workload, creating new documentation, interpretation, and follow-up demands.
Rather than viewing these tests as disruptions, many clinicians are reframing them as structured entry points for counseling, risk stratification, and shared decision-making—when approached with clear clinical guardrails. Here’s how to integrate them more effectively into practice.
How docs are learning to embrace at-home testing
"There is no stopping the availability of [at-home] tests, so it's best to embrace and integrate them into your practice," says Kanwar Kelley, MD, JD, a triple board-certified ENT-otolaryngologist and the co-founder and CEO of Side Health in Orinda, CA. Patients typically bring other records and tests from previous physicians, and this is similar. Using patient-empowered testing as a tool to connect with patients and obtain a deeper medical history is beneficial for both the patient and the clinician.
Rather than discounting a patient who is bringing an at-home test into the clinic, engage in a conversation about the differences between standard testing and at-home testing, and the importance of some markers over others. Take time to review and discuss the testing with them.
In some cases, docs can reach out to the companies who create the at-home tests, Dr. Kelley says. Those companies typically have clinical staff who are available to discuss the testing and ways to apply it to your practice and patients.
At-home tests can include food allergy, microbiome, functional medicine, and cancer screening tests. Some at-home tests are approved by the FDA, such as Cologuard, a noninvasive at-home stool test that screens for colorectal cancer.[]
John Ashcraft, DO, Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery and Surgical Oncology at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, says physicians should welcome such tests for their ability to improve patient access.
Providers must embrace these [at-home tests]. This is the way of the future. More convenient. More access.
—John Ashcraft, DO
A starting point for discussion
Not all at-home tests have merit, and experts caution that some may even harm patients if they try to sell them unhelpful products.
But physicians say the tests can help start conversations about health and build trust with patients.
Related: Direct-to-consumer diagnostics: Disrupting care or creating more work for physicians?"I'm happy when patients share things they've researched online, at-home test results, or other information that tells me they're taking their health seriously," says Elisabeth Fowlie Mock, MD, a family physician and a director of the American Academy of Family Physicians' board of directors.
When patients bring those at-home test results into the clinic, you can use that information as a foundation for conversation and make a plan for improved health together. Meet that conversation with an open mind and work to together to interpret the results. "Remember that good listening skills and a patient feeling heard leads to good patient satisfaction and peace of mind," Dr. Mock says. “Home tests won’t ever replace the relationship between a patient and their family physician, but we know that these tests aren’t going anywhere."
Patients should loop their doctor in with any at-home testing or treatments they're considering. It's the job of the physician to walk alongside them in their health journey and provide the steady, preventive care that will follow them throughout their lifetime.