Q&A: Pharmacies Bridging Gaps in Diagnostic Testing, Overburdened Health Care System

Amid continuous highlights of pharmacies’ access in the community and ongoing industry trends focusing on convenience and digital capability, at-home diagnostic testing—with pharmacist-led support—has helped open so many doors within a significantly burdened US health care system.

“Test Yourself @ Home (TY@H) isn't just a product; it's a proof of concept. It demonstrates that consumers will engage with pharmacy-based diagnostics when the testing is accessible, the results are meaningful, and a trusted clinical professional is there to help,” Tim Drapeau, CEO of CLIAwaived Inc, told Drug Topics. “Once that model is established, the frontier expands quickly. I think the pharmacy of 2030 won't look like it does today.”

In part 2, Drapeau provides further insights into his organization’s TY@H product, how it’s improving patient outcomes in real-time, and why it is a vital option for pharmacies to stock on their shelves. As physician and specialist wait-times increase, pharmacists have time in and time out proved that they are ready to address patient health on the community level, and TY@H significantly helps integrate patient and pharmacist relationships among it all.

READ MORE: Q&A: The Diagnostic Test Opening the Door for New Community Pharmacy Revenue Streams

Drug Topics: With the traditional health care system facing significant strain and long wait times for specialist appointments, how does providing clinically relevant insights without a doctor’s visit improve patient outcomes and lead to actionable care?

Tim Drapeau: The traditional health care system really has a triage problem and the numbers make it undeniable. According to surveys, it now takes an average of about 30 days to schedule a physician appointment. That’s up 19% since 2022, 48% since 2004. For specialists, it's worse. Cardiology appointments wait, on average, 33 days; OBGYN is 42 days; gastroenterology, 40 days. Patients are kind of stuck in what I call a diagnostic dead zone: that gap between something feels off and I have objective data worth acting on. TY@H bridges the gap in a few different ways. It eliminates diagnostic delay. That patient on semaglutide with elevated liver enzymes, well without the TY@H kit and solution, he waits 6 months for the follow-up labs that may never happen. With test yourself, we catch it at least a month or 2 or 3 earlier. We adjust the protocol and we keep them on the medication that's actually working. I call this harm prevention and convenience. This patient that we're talking about is not alone. There was a 2025 survey that found that 90% of Americans have delayed or avoided recommended preventative screenings.

A home diagnostic really triages patients appropriately when, for instance, vitamin D comes back very low, pharmacists can start supplementation immediately. There’s no appointment needed at all. Look at when a fecal occult blood screening comes back positive. The pharmacist can expedite a referral with objective data in the end. They can show that pharmacists reviewed the lab showing that thyroid dysfunction is often and they actually have the data to show it. They get seen faster and taken more seriously when they have the data in hand. The ability to do a home diagnostic really creates continuity where none exists. Patients see their doctor once or twice a year, but their pharmacy is monthly. When a pharmacist becomes a monitoring point, we can catch trends earlier before it becomes an emergency that stresses the system even further. TY@H doesn't replace physicians; it just fills a gap between them.

Drug Topics: Looking ahead, aside from the Test Yourself @ Homeproduct, what other frontiers of preventive health do you see migrating from the doctor's office to the pharmacy aisle?

Tim Drapeau: TY@H is the opening chapter of a much larger story about where diagnostic testing is heading and the pharmacy, I think, is at the center of it. We're already seeing a migration begin. Over 60% of flu vaccines are now administered in the pharmacy setting. That shift didn't happen by accident; it happened because pharmacies proved they could deliver clinical services at scale with accessibility that clinics can't match. Diagnostic testing is next in line for that same transition. Think about what's really knocking on the pharmacy door, with many states adopting test-and-treat guidelines for pharmacies. Many pharmacies are offering point-of-care testing for strep, flu, RSV, UTI, and more, and now COVID has become routine for many pharmacies.

The next wave expands that into chronic disease monitoring—looking at A_1c testing for diabetics, lipid panels for cardiovascular risks, kidney function markers for patients on long-term meds, and INR monitoring for patients on anticoagulants. These aren't really exotic tests. They're tests that millions of Americans need regularly but consistently delay or skip entirely because getting them requires scheduling a doctor's visit, taking time off from work, and waiting weeks for an appointment.

I think beyond chronic disease, we're seeing a real momentum in metabolic health monitoring, particularly around the explosive growth of GLP-1 therapies. Nearly all managed care pharmacy experts surveyed in 2025 expect GLP-1 therapy to increase by 25% within the next 5 years. Every one of these patients are going to need some sort of ongoing lab monitoring that the current system really isn't equipped to provide. The pharmacy is really a logical home for this surveyance. And then there's cancer screening. Early colorectal cancer detection through stool-based testing kits sold in pharmacy settings is already here with TY@H, and that's significant. Bringing that kind of screening to a trusted, accessible, no-appointment-needed environment could be really generally life-saving for populations who couldn't otherwise or wouldn't otherwise get screened.

TY@H isn't just a product; it's a proof of concept. It demonstrates that consumers will engage with pharmacy-based diagnostics when the testing is accessible, the results are meaningful, and a trusted clinical professional is there to help. Once that model is established, the frontier expands quickly. I think the pharmacy of 2030 won't look like it does today.

READ MORE: The Role of the Pharmacist in Screening

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