Overview
- Product: Lab service hub for ordering labs.
- User: Any practitioners who request lab work for patients.
- Features: Lab ordering and reporting for health practitioners.
- Cost: Free for practitioners. Wholesale prices plus 7% for patients.
- Privacy: HIPAA compliant.
- Alternatives: SelfDecode Pro offers DNA & lab testing and analysis to help practitioners create custom health reports based on your clients’ health data.
What is Rupa Health?
Rupa Health is an administrative portal from which health practitioners can order, track, and view the results of lab tests from a list of potential labs. It was founded in 2018 by Tara Viswanathan, Rosa Hamalainen, and Ben Easton, and the product went live in 2020.
Through Rupa Health, practitioners can order general and specialty tests from different companies and have them delivered to patients.
How Rupa Health Labs Work
Practitioners can create an account on the website to order tests for their patients.
Rupa Health allows lab tests to be tracked from ordering to receiving results. They also offer direct linking into a few EHR software programs like Practice Better, but if the practitioner uses an EHR service not connected with Rupa, they will have to manually transfer the results.
Tracking lab orders looks like the following:
When ordering labs through Rupa Health, practitioners can pay for the tests or have patients pay directly. Practitioners do not deal directly with the lab service, as orders, questions, and other issues should be resolved initially through Rupa.
Kits are shipped directly to patients. For tests that require a blood draw, Rupa Health refers patients to a phlebotomist. Patients usually need to pay an extra fee directly to the phlebotomist. Practitioners will receive a notification when their patients’ lab results are ready. This consists only of the patients’ results, as Rupa does not offer lab interpretation services.
Once ready, practitioners can download a copy of the results and upload it to their EHR of choice or add it to the patient’s chart, which requires mostly manual work if the practitioner does not utilize one of the three EHR services that integrate with Rupa. They can also send a copy to the patient. The company does not offer features to help practitioners interpret lab results.
Rupa Health Lab Cost
Practitioners can sign up for Rupa Health for free. Rupa Health generates their income from the patients, charging a 7% service fee on top of the lab costs. The lab services that sign up to be an option for patients charge wholesale rates.
Patients may have to pay an additional fee if testing requires phlebotomist services.
Lab Interpretation Services from Rupa Health
Rupa Health performs an administrative service. While some of the labs, like the ones offering genetic testing, for example, can present insights regarding lab results, Rupa Health does not present any of their own.
Rupa can offer practitioners a convenient way to order lab tests, but does not provide services to help them interpret results. To that end, practitioners may need multiple services to run their practice more efficiently.
Review of Rupa Health Privacy & Data Security
Rupa Health is a HIPAA-compliant company. They do share personal information between practitioners and labs as needed to process lab orders. They claim not to sell information to third parties, but they do utilize third-party advertising, which may track internet site usage.
Pros & Cons For Rupa Health
Pros
- Allows practitioners to deliver lab test kits directly to patients
- Offers discounted lab costs for patients
- Integration with a few EHR programs
Cons
- Limited or no recommendation options regarding genetic and lab testing
- Does not help practitioners interpret test results
- Does not provide tools to help health practitioners create treatment plans based on test results
Alternatives to Rupa Health
SelfDecode Pro is an all-in-one precision health software that offers genetic and lab testing and analysis and presents a good alternative to Rupa Health. Through SelfDecode, health practitioners can order DNA kits and lab tests for patients and receive a detailed interpretation of the results.
SelfDecode offers a similar array of specialty labs, all discounted for SelfDecode Pro members. Practitioners who wish to order DNA kits for patients are also given special pricing. In addition to lab tests, SelfDecode allows practitioners to upload past test results for their patients to facilitate tracking and provides tailored insights.
As a SelfDecode Pro member, practitioners can have access to over 150 personalized genetic reports with health recommendations based on each client’s DNA results. Practitioners also have access to a lab analyzer tool that provides detailed information about lab markers and recommendations to improve them.
SelfDecode can help practitioners reduce treatment planning time, as they can create custom health protocols for their patients by choosing from a personalized list of recommendations provided. Reports and recommendations are backed by solid, medical research.
All patient information is easily accessible through SelfDecode’s client dashboard, including genetic reports, lab results, and lifestyle assessments. SelfDecode also offers other popular EHR features, such as intake forms.
For individual consumers, SelfDecode also offers DNA & lab testing and analysis services.
Summary
Rupa Health is designed to help practitioners order lab tests for their patients. Kits are shipped directly to patients, and after the testing is complete, practitioners receive the results. They do not do an interpretation of results or present any recommendations based on results to help practitioners create treatment plans for clients. They serve a purely administrative function.
While Rupa Health can potentially help practitioners be more efficient with regard to paperwork, a more all-inclusive approach like SelfDecode can provide research-based, actionable recommendations for lab results directly to both patient and doctor. Book a demo call to see how SelfDecode Pro can help you grow your practice with precision health technology.
