Diagnostics
The case for measuring less, more often
A smaller panel repeated quarterly beats an exhaustive one taken once. Why trend beats breadth in almost every case.
Dr. Elena Marchetti
7 min read
There is a persistent belief that more testing produces better medicine. In our experience the opposite is closer to true: a focused panel repeated often beats an exhaustive one taken once.
Why trend beats breadth
A single comprehensive panel produces a large number of values with no context. Half will sit near a boundary, and none of them can be interpreted without knowing which direction they were heading.
A smaller panel taken at week one, week six, week twelve and then quarterly produces something far more useful: movement. Movement is what we treat.
It is also less expensive and considerably less alarming for the person being measured.
Dr. Elena Marchetti
Founder & Chief Medical Officer
Internal medicine, eleven years in hospital practice before founding Wellns. Based at The Woodlands.
