“Routine blood work is some of the most important preventive medicine that anybody can get,” Babson Diagnostics founder Eric Olson said. “Our goal is to make the experience convenient, make it friendly and put it in convenient places that are pleasant places to go."
Whether people shy away from blood draws due to a fear of needles, surprise medical bills or lightheadedness, or perceive the process as inconvenient and uncomfortable all around, the simple fact is that routine blood work simply isn’t working for a significant fraction of the population.
“Roughly 40% of the people who get their blood tests ordered will ultimately skip those blood tests,” Olson said. “We set out to solve that problem by reimagining what a blood test was—reimagining how a blood test works in such a way that it actually fits into somebody's life, that it can be a friendly experience, a convenient experience and something that's affordable and fair with transparent pricing.”
Unlike traditional venous draws from the arm, BetterWay blood testing collects a pea-sized sample from the finger, only 10% the collection amount used for conventional testing. It’s also important to note that capillary blood, or blood drawn from the fingers, isn’t inherently less reliable than blood collected from a vein. Instead, the challenge of testing capillary blood lies in the finger prick itself.
"Blood is a delicate human tissue, and if you damage it, then [testing it] can give you an inaccurate result,” Olson said.
Historically, finger pricks haven’t been gentle enough to avoid rupturing collected blood cells, which ultimately led to an inaccurate result. For that reason, phlebotomists, or clinicians specifically trained in blood collection and venous blood draws, have been the gatekeepers of routine blood testing.
While previous companies tried (and failed) to develop reliable finger-based blood testing products, Babson Diagnostics succeeded because it was committed to developing the technology the right way from the ground up. For over a decade, Olson and his team worked tirelessly to develop a blood testing apparatus that could be operated without a phlebotomist and still provide reliable and accurate results.
Through clinical trials involving over 4,000 participants, more than 750,000 samples and a rigorous approval process confirming that Olson’s technology works, BetterWay has been validated as clinically equivalent to the results of conventional testing methods.
The BetterWay process
Blood work is an instrumental component of preventative medicine, relaying invaluable insights into how organs and systems within the body are functioning. While physicians do order routine blood work during annual physicals and check-ups, for most people, the process begins by simply going to BetterWay.com, selecting a test and scheduling a time and location that works best.
"Using capillary blood means that blood collection can be closer to where our customers live and where they shop and where they work, and have it fit more into their life. So that part's important, the physical experience and the psychological experience of having blood collected is also completely different,” Olson said.
BetterWay currently offers a two-week scheduling window, but plans are underway to extend that window in the future. In the meantime, individuals can contact BetterWay if they’d like to schedule further in advance. Babson Diagnostics partners with just over a dozen pharmacies in the Austin area, including several nearby H-E-B, People’s Rx and Lake Hills Pharmacy locations, to administer their BetterWay tests.
Participating pharmacies include:
- Hancock Center H-E-B, 78751
- Peoples Rx North Lamar, 78756
- H-E-B Pharmacy at the UTHTB, 78712
- 7th Street H-E-B, 78702
- Spicewood Springs H-E-B, 78759
- Peoples Rx Westlake, 78746
- Peoples Rx South Lamar, 78704
- Lake Hills Pharmacy, 78738
- Peoples Rx Lakeline, 78756
- I-35 & William Cannon H-E-B, 78744
More about Babson Diagnostics
Babson Diagnostics, a science-first company incubated in Austin, is a top innovator for a number of blood-based testing services and products.
"We run 55 different tests, 39 of which are measured tests, and in every one of those cases, we've evaluated the end-to-end performance of that test all the way from collection through to analysis and demonstrated that it's clinically equivalent to a conventional blood test,” Olson said.
Olson and his team charge on to make the world a better place for routine blood work and accessible preventative medicine. To learn more about Olson and BetterWay, listen to Olson’s recent appearance on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and visit the BetterWay website.
The above story was produced by Community Impact's Multi Platform Journalist Jacquelyn Chorush with information solely provided by the local business as part of its "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.
