After years of speculation, Theranos (Palo Alto, Calif.) last fall unveiled its revolutionary plan to reshape the future of laboratory testing. With a laser-sharp focus on lowering testing costs (always 50 percent or below Medicare reimbursement rates) and standardizing quality, the company’s plans potentially hold benefits for stakeholders across the health care industry. Patients benefit from the convenience of Theranos draw centers in Walgreens pharmacies and from the company’s proprietary and patented infrastructure for processing microsamples (one-one thousandth the size of a typical blood draw). The company believes its quick return of precise results will provide enhanced efficiency and informative, longitudinal value for physicians and pathologists. Theranos also poses a disruptive threat to the laboratory industry through a transformative emphasis on transparency reflected in the company’s commitment to both price transparency (all test prices are on the company’s Web site) and publication of margin of error variation for aiding interpretation of test results. The company’s goal of deploying a national network of accessible testing centers is becoming a reality with the expansion of its Walgreens-based Wellness Centers to the Phoenix area in mid-November 2013, following the opening of the first center in Palo Alto in September 2013. Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos’s […]