You can’t do lab testing completely by telehealth. At some point, somebody has to physically collect and deliver the samples on which tests are performed. That can get tricky when tests are ordered via a telehealth consultation. For one thing, the patient isn’t present at the ordering provider’s facility. Moreover, patients who can’t or won’t leave home for a medical consultation are apt to want to provide the samples necessary to perform the tests their telehealth provider orders for them without going out to a clinic or collection center.
All of this has created the need for a new kind of service: in-home phlebotomy services. Lockdowns and the vast expansion of telehealth has driven explosive growth in the global mobile phlebotomy services market, which financial consultant Emergen Research valued at $497.3 million in 2020. Emergen also predicts a revenue compound annual growth rate of 4.4 percent through 2028, driven by growing demand for routine blood testing.
The cancer segment is expected to grow the fastest and account for the highest market share due to high worldwide cancer rates and rising demand for mobile phlebotomy services for blood-based tests to detect non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), solid tumor, and hematologic cancers via liquid biopsy.
Major players in the in-home phlebotomy market include NeoGenomics Laboratories, Getlabs, Viracor-IBT Laboratories, Angel’s on Wheels Mobile Phlebotomy LLC, Sonora Quest Laboratories, TravaLab LLC, Ultimate Wellness Providers Co., Mobile Phlebotomy Services, Inc., Pinnacle Mobile Phlebotomy, LLC, VeniExpress, Inc., and Progressive Phlebotomy Services, LLC.
One of these companies, Getlabs, has become a major player in the market despite only existing since 2018. The Miami, Florida-based startup has secured major in-home phlebotomy services contracts from some of the nation’s biggest lab companies, including Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, and Sonora Quest. It now operates in 25 states and the District of Columbia with plans to expand both its geographic and services offering footprints.
Last February, it bolstered its expansion designs by raising $20 million in Series A funding. Its investors include Labcorp, Byers Capital, 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki and her sister Susan, who happens to serve as CEO of YouTube. And on Oct. 6, it stepped out of the medical lab zone to partner with national weight management company JumpstartMD.
Get a more in-depth report on this and other key diagnostic deals in our November 2022 Lab Industry Report.