Frequently-Asked-Questions ("FAQ") of Health-Tests-Direct.com:
GO TO OUR LIST OF
400+ DISCOUNTED BLOOD TESTS
GO TO OUR HTD™ HOME PAGE
Below are the most frequent questions we get...and the
answers. If you have a question NOT answered here,
please just ask us. Call toll-free 1-800-456-4647 ext. 203 or
e-mail us. We're happy to help!
The #1 Most-Frequently-Asked
Question we hear from
people who call or e-mail us at
Health-Tests-Direct™
is:
"How
does this work?"
(Click on the link to find
out!)
Other questions callers
very frequently ask us include:
How
do I order a blood test from you?
and these questions, too...
How can you
possibly arrange blood tests for
40-70% less than I have to pay through a
doctor?
Do
you use cut-rate clinics or cheap labs as a way to save
yourself and me money?
Do
you accept insurance?
How do I know if you
have a contracted clinic near me
to
do my "blood draw"?
I
have a number of clinics located right here in my Zip
Code. Can I use one of them for my blood draw?
There
is a clinic very close to me that you do NOT contract
with for blood draws. Why not?
My
friend is a nurse, Can I have him/her do my blood
draw?
Why
do I have to pay you "in advance" for my blood draw, my lab
test, and my test results?
How
can I be confident that the credit card and personal info I
give you over the phone is secure?
What
will your charges on my credit card statement say?
Can
I pay by personal check?
How
can I keep my "true" identity from you, and the clinic,
and the lab?
Why
do you charge me a 10% 'cancellation fee' if I use a credit
card, then change my mind about getting a blood
test?
What
if I have questions not answered here or elsewhere on
your website?
Q. "How does this
work?"
Health-Tests-Direct™
arranges your blood test through
"Direct Access Testing". That means we arrange
for you to "skip" the "middleman"- the doctor.
(Just by skipping a doctor's visit, you are already saving
both money and time, aren't you?) Instead of
sending you to a doctor's office, we arrange the first step of
a blood test - that is, collecting your blood specimen
(your blood "draw") - directly with a
clinic located as close as possible to your home or workplace
Zip Code. It will always be a state certified clinic,
exactly like one your own doctor might send you to for your
blood draw. Using your Zip Code, we search our database
of 1,600+ clinics nationwide to locate a clinic we contract
with that is in or at least near your city or town, no matter
where you live in America. Here, we save you money, too. Our
service contract with these 1,600+ clinics enables us to get
your blood drawn for as much as 65% LESS than they normally
charge the local doctors. Most clinics charge "$25-$45"
for a blood draw. Our arrangement with those same
clinics is to get your blood drawn for only "$15". It's
the same clinic, the same professional collection of your
blood specimen...you simply pay $10-$30 less for it
through
Health-Tests-Direct™.
The clinic will draw your
blood based on a written blood test order signed by OUR staff
physician (your physician's signature is NOT
needed). We do NOT charge you extra for this. Then
we arrange directly with a nationally and state
accredited analytical laboratory to analyze your blood and
send our staff physician your test results. When we get
your results, we send them directly and
confidentially to you, NOT to your doctor or to anyone
else...that is, UNLESS you specifically instruct us to do so!
In summary: At no extra charge, OUR physician (not yours) orders your blood
test without making you first pay for an exam. We then
earn lower prices for you at the clinics AND at the
labs by sending them a larger volume of business from
all over the country. It is these and other cost-saving
factors we employ that enable us at
Health-Tests-Direct™ to arrange the same high caliber of
blood test services for you
as a doctor does. And, we
accomplish this for 40-70% LESS cost to you
overall...than you traditionally have paid when going
through your own doctor to arrange a blood test! Do you
have more questions? Then, please continue reading the
rest of this "FAQ" page.
Return
to Other
Questions
Q. How do I order
a blood test from you?
HOW
TO ORDER A BLOOD TEST AT
HEALTH-TESTS-DIRECT.COM:
You can order any one (or a multiple
selection)
from 400+ different types of blood tests and blood test panels.
It's "as easy as 1-2-3" ONLINE through HTD
™!
◄◄◄Just follow the "1", "2", "3" steps (in that order)
you see on the left side of this
page. Here's what to expect when you do:
When you click on
"1",
it will take you to a search page to help you select by Zip Code a "Blood Draw
Center" that is located nearby your home (or your workplace).
The blood draw center you select might be a local health clinic or it might be what
is called a "patient service center", or "PSC". (PSCs are owned and
operated by large, national laboratories.) The one you select is where
you will go to have a small sample of your blood drawn by a nurse or
phlebotomist. Normally, you do NOT need an appointment; you simply
walk in with your Blood Draw and Lab Test Authorization paperwork in hand
(details on this in Step 3, below). Usually your wait, if any, will be
very short and the blood draw itself usually takes less than five minutes. The clinic or PSC will then "overnight" your
blood specimen to
a laboratory for next-day testing. If you go for your blood draw
early enough on (for example) a "Monday", the lab will receive and test your blood specimen
on Tuesday and your test results will be available to you on
Wednesday. If you go on a Friday, however, you should not expect your
results until the following Tuesday...or as late as Wednesday if Monday were
a Holiday. This, too, is good to know if you are "in a
rush" for your test results: that is, if you go for your blood draw too late in the afternoon,
the clinic or PSC may have already had UPS or FedEx come by for their
blood specimen pick-up. In that event, the clinic or PSC will not ship your blood specimen
until the following day. That, of course, will add another day
to your wait time before getting your results. So, we recommend that
you always go to your selected blood draw center early in the week and early
in the day..."morning" if possible.
When you click on
"2" (NOTE: YOU
MUST SELECT A CLINIC OR PSC AT
"1"
BEFORE
YOU CLICK ON
"2"),
you will be taken to a page listing
all the laboratory blood tests names
beginning with the letter "A"
that we make available to you at
40-70% savings. All 26 letters
of the alphabet appear near the top
of that page, so you can click-and-search
all 400+ of our available blood tests from "A-Z"!
For each blood test listed, you'll find
our 40-70% discount pricing along with a description of the test.
You will even find there is a
separate category of blood test
"PANELS" you can order and save even
more. Finally you'll also be able to search
by name in a category of
"CONDITIONS" - blood tests
that are commonly performed for certain
health "conditions" like arthritis, cancer, and others. When you find
a blood test you want to order, simply click the "Order" button and that
test will go into your "Shopping Cart". Want more than one type of
blood test? Your Shopping Cart will continue to add the tests
you choose and keep a running total of the cost for you, so you won't go
over your budget. You can easily add or delete any
selected tests before
you "Check Out" (before you confirm and finalize your total order).
When you click on
"3" (NOTE: YOU
MUST ORDER AT LEAST "ONE" BLOOD TEST AT "2" BEFORE YOU CLICK ON "3"),
it will take you to a page where you will enter your e-mail address and
choose a unique Password known only to you. When you hit "Enter" you
will see a form you need to fill out online with your name, date of birth,
et cetera. This will create
and register a "Personal Wellness
Folder" for you, and enable you to
print out your blood draw and laboratory test analysis "Authorization"
paperwork. You should print that out right away. If your
computer is NOT connected to a
working printer, please call us at
1-800-456-4647 ext. 203 and we will
arrange to fax your forms if you
have a fax machine or send them to
you by U.S. mail if you do not.
IMPORTANT
FOOT NOTES:
-
You MUST take
ALL "Authorization" paperwork WITH YOU to the clinic or PSC you
selected for your blood draw. If you show up without your
Authorization paperwork, they will NOT
draw your blood and send it to the lab.
-
Be sure to remember
the unique Username and Password you registered with, too, because you
will need to use them again in 2-3 days to confidentially access and
print out your
laboratory test results online in "Your Personal Wellness Folder", right
here on this site.
-
All of your laboratory test
results for this "first" blood test order and all lab results for any
"future" blood tests you order through
our HTD™
website can -
if you wish - remain here for your future 24/7 confidential
access and print-out, using your unique User Name and Password. We will
maintain your records confidentially for you (and without any additional
cost to you) until YOU decide to delete your Personal Wellness Folder
from our web site.
Return
to Other
Questions
Q.
How can you possibly arrange blood tests for 40-70%
less cost than I usually have to pay when I get my
tests arranged through a doctor?
A. Through
Direct
Access Testing (DAT), we are able to save you such
substantial money due to at least six (6) factors.
First, we save you the cost of going to a doctor for
"an exam". OUR staff physician signs your blood test
order without requiring you to visit him first.
Second, we save you the normally higher cost of the
blood draw done by the clinic. (Our arrangement with all
1,600+ clinics we use is to get your blood drawn for only $15,
or as much as 65% LESS than the usual $25-$45 they
charge). Third: "volume". The laboratories
give us a lower 'test price' than they give to your doctor,
because your doctor sends blood test business to the lab from
only perhaps 1-2 offices he/she operates in your city.
On the other hand, "we" operate nationally. We send
blood test business to the lab from 1,600+ clinics located
all over the United States! Fourth:
"Mark-up". When your doctor gets your blood draw bill
from the clinic they sent you to and your blood analysis bill
from the lab your specimen went to, they "mark them up" more
than we do before sending you their "doctor bill".
Although we accept less profit-margin than your doctor is
willing to do, our higher volume still allows us to run a
profitable business...while still saving YOU up
to 70% on your healthcare needs! Fifth:
Unlike most doctors' offices, we do NOT accept
insurance. That saves us a considerable amount in
administrative expense (and cash flow losses due slow pay)
that a doctor's office has. Your doctor, certainly, must
pass expense along in their bill to you. "We" don't have
that extra expense and therefore do not need to pass it on to
you! Six: We require payment in advance by
credit card or by personal check (a check that already has
cleared the bank) before we arrange your blood test.
That represents another considerable savings to us - and to
you - because we don't have to constantly deal with late
payments, or no payments, or with bouncing
checks like most other businesses do. Make
sense?
Return
to Other
Questions
Q. Do you use cut-rate
clinics or cheap labs as a way to save yourself and me
money?
A. Absolutely not. The clinics
we use are all a part of a national network that is certified,
regulated, and regularly monitored by their own state health
departments for compliance to medical standards. They
are the very same clinics that thousands of physicians
nationwide also use. Further, if we hear any
personal-type complaints whatsoever about a particular clinic
from our own customers- e.g., poor customer service, rude or
incompetent personnel - they are immediately dropped from our
network. We do not need and will not tolerate
poor-mannered clinic personnel upsetting you!
As for
the laboratories we use, every one of them is a
CLIA-certified
lab and ranks at or among the top known and respected in the
country. It is not at all unlikely, that the local
clinics "we" use and the national labs "we" use
are the same local clinics and same national
labs that your own personal physician and other physicians in
your local community have also used for
years!
Return
to Other
Questions
Q. Do
you accept "insurance"?
A. Sorry, but "No".
And why not? Because dealing with insurance companies
and their related "red-tape" paperwork just takes too much
administrative time. Administrative time
always
translates to additional costs of doing
business. Those added costs to us could only be offset
by making our prices higher to you. Also, it typically
takes 45-60 days and sometimes "120" days to receive full
payment from insurance companies. To keep our prices
40-70% lower than traditional costs for blood tests,
it's necessary that we totally avoid the traditional
extra costs that are a necessary evil when doing business with
insurance companies.
Return
to Other
Questions
Q.
How do I know if you have a contracted clinic
near me to do my "blood draw"? I want to confirm that there is one
very close to me before I order "on-line".
A.
If you want to know where in your city or town our
nearest "blood draw" clinic is located, please enter your zip code on our home page.
By the way, more than 8 out
of 10 of our customers will only have to travel "0" to "7"
miles to the nearest clinic that our labs contract with for
their blood draw. Please accept our apologies if you are
one of the 2 out of 10 who live further away than
that!
Return
to Other
Questions
Q.
I have a number of clinics located
right here in my Zip Code. Can I go to one of them for
my blood draw?
A. "If" we or our lab has a
contract with them, you can. A contract means they
already have the specific paperwork, blood test
vials, a pre-paid overnight service shipping label, and the
specific packaging necessary to properly and expeditiously
process your blood test following our exact, required
procedures.
Return
to Other
Questions
Q.
There is a
clinic very close to me that you do NOT have a contract
with for blood draws. Why not?
A. It could be any number of
reasons. Sometimes they are not willing to keep our
specific supplies and materials readily on hand or routinely
re-order them when they run low. Sometimes, it's
"cost". Our 1,600+ contracted clinics are paid a flat
fee of $15 for doing your blood draw. However, most
clinics usually charge your doctor $25 to $45 for that
service. We assure you that clinics certainly do NOT do
a "better", "nicer", or "more pleasant" blood draw for $45
than they do for $15! Yet, some clinics simply charge
more for the exact same service...and we respect their "right"
to do that.
However, if a clinic will NOT agree to
accept a $15 fee for a blood draw, we won't contract with
them. There is one national network of blood draw
stations that we sometimes are "forced" to use - and to pay
them "$45" - because they are uniquely located in sparsely
populated places. But we try hard to avoid them.
Why? because, it is always YOU who pays for the blood
draw, one way or the other. Remember, whether the blood
draw is a separate charge or it is included as
part of the total "blood test" fee, YOU end up covering that
cost in the end. So...would you rather pay $15 or $45
for your blood draw?
Return
to Other
Questions