The first time a patient sent me her Function Health results, we needed three follow-up visits to work through them. My schedule was already full, with a waitlist, so finding time to review biomarkers I would never have ordered for her was no small adjustment, even with my functional medicine training.
I thought about that experience when Quest announced its upcoming $119 panel through Apple Health. Apple joins Oura, WHOOP, and Hims & Hers in bringing lab testing into platforms patients already use.
That convenience matters. Patients can begin without arranging a separate visit to request testing, although they still need to schedule and prepare for the draw. We welcome the easier access. We also know what it takes to work through the results.
With my patient, grouping the biomarkers by body system gave us a structure for our visits. I reviewed the findings alongside her history, symptoms, and previous results, then identified what was reassuring, what needed attention, and what would change our plan. Additional testing addressed specific questions.
She appreciated the extra appointments because they gave us time to go deeper into her health together. She kept her Function membership, and we developed our annual song and dance: which tests she would get through Function, what we needed to add, and how we would review the results.
What your patient’s panel already tells you
Before recommending your usual foundational labs, compare them with the report in front of you. There may be substantial overlap.
The comparison with an annual physical needs some context. There is no universal annual-exam lab panel. Preventive screening follows age and risk considerations; for example, USPSTF diabetes-screening recommendations specify whom to screen rather than recommending annual testing for everyone. Other labs depend on symptoms, history, medications, and clinical judgment.
Consumer panels offer a predefined set of tests that may cover a useful portion of your initial assessment. Quest describes Apple’s offering as more than 50 biomarkers assessing cardiometabolic health and organ function, alongside measurements such as blood pressure.
Biomarker counts are also part of the marketing. To a patient, a larger panel can sound like a more thorough assessment and better value. During the review, explain which findings are useful for their care and whether additional testing would help answer an unresolved question.
Your patient wants your opinion based on everything you know about them. What do these results help explain? What is reassuring, and what warrants monitoring? Where is an individualized target appropriate, and why? What should they do first?
That is the clinical work we need to make visible. You arrive having reviewed the report and considered your assessment. The patient leaves understanding your reasoning, with clear priorities and a plan they can realistically follow.
It’s important to keep in mind that the count of biomarkers doesn't matter; rather, we should ask ourselves what matters for this patient to get a baseline and how do we continuously keep measuring against that baseline.
What patients do with what they learn
I enjoyed reading Neko Health’s Year Three report because it explores what patients do after learning more about their health.
Among returning patients, roughly one-third reported exercising more by their second assessment. Neko also reported blood pressure and cholesterol improvements in subgroups who did not report starting the corresponding medications.
These findings are observational, with no control group, and Neko’s assessment includes a clinician consultation and personalized guidance. They do not establish that testing alone caused the changes. They do give us a reason to consider how understanding personal diagnostic results might support engagement and increase motivation to commit to change.
Your patient may already know that exercise matters. Discussing their own findings can make that advice more relevant and create an opportunity to agree on a manageable change.
If patients are seeking this help, consider making comprehensive lab review a dedicated service. Patients should be able to see that you welcome outside results, understand what a review includes, and know how to book.
How to Review Labs You Never Ordered
1. Make outside results part of your intake.
This week, add a question about testing patients who have purchased labs for themselves and what they hoped to learn. Their choice may reflect convenience, curiosity, or a question they have struggled to get answered.
Provide a way to submit the full report before the appointment. If you develop a dedicated review service, explain its scope, pricing, and how follow-up works.
2. Prepare a review process before the next report arrives.
Review one sample report and map how you would discuss it within your current visit structure. Group findings by body system, then consider the relationships across systems alongside the patient’s history, symptoms, medications, and goals. Functional medicine frameworks can help organize that assessment while keeping supported interpretations distinct from hypotheses.
Address urgent findings promptly. For the remaining discussion, determine whether one visit is sufficient or additional appointments would be useful. Clinical complexity and the patient’s questions should guide that decision.
3. Get strategic with your patient about where to put their resources.
Before the next lab order, discuss what additional testing would change. The most useful next investment might be a targeted test, nutrition support, a follow-up appointment, or help implementing the existing plan.
Coordinate with testing included in their membership when clinically appropriate, without delaying necessary evaluation. Every test uses time, money, supplies, and clinical attention. Explain the question you need answered and how the result could inform care.
Your patient has already taken a step toward understanding their health. Meet them with a prepared assessment, a clear explanation, and a plan that makes good use of that effort.
Be a modern clinician with the help of Ultralight, the AI-native EHR built specifically for functional, integrative, and longevity medicine. We've recently launched wearables integrations and improved AI-native clinical workflows. Get in touch to see the latest updates.
Live October 6: A Clinician's Masterclass on VO2 Max
VO2 max is now recognized as one of the strongest predictors of all-cause mortality: a stronger signal than blood pressure, cholesterol, or even smoking status. Yet most clinics still treat it as a fitness metric rather than a vital sign. Join Ultralight and VO Health for a live session on bringing VO2 max into clinical practice.
Live · Tuesday, October 6 · 9am PT / 12pm ET · Free
Brooks Leitner, MD PhD, co-founder and CEO of VO Health (LinkedIn), and Sunita Mohanty, co-founder and CEO of Ultralight (LinkedIn), will walk through what VO2 max testing looks like in practice and how to act on the number once you have it.
In the news
A Framingham Heart Study analysis links everyday glucose swings to hypertension risk in adults without diabetes. In a study published September 17 in Diabetes Care, researchers put continuous glucose monitors on roughly 1,300 Framingham participants with no diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Higher average glucose and more time spent above 140 mg/dL were both associated with a higher risk of hypertension or elevated cholesterol. A patient who tests normal on a standard A1c may already be showing this pattern on a week of CGM data.
The most rigorous test yet of LLM-assisted clinical reasoning found real gains, with real limits. In a multi-country randomized controlled trial published September 9 in npj Digital Medicine, 249 physicians across Indonesia, Kenya, and the Netherlands solved clinical vignettes. The control group had no outside resources, no internet, no guidelines; the intervention group got GPT-4o. Diagnostic accuracy rose 18 percentage points in Kenya, 10.7 in Indonesia, and 7.2 in the Netherlands, all statistically significant. The authors call this a controlled, exam-style test of reasoning on paper cases, and note that harms were not assessed. Worth reading before treating any claim about AI and physician decisions as settled.
Three new studies at ASCO 2026 tie GLP-1 use to a lower breast cancer signal. Reported by The ASCO Post, one study of more than 80,000 women with obesity found 16 percent lower breast cancer incidence among GLP-1 users; a second, in over 111,000 women screened, found lower detection rates with GLP-1 exposure; a third, in more than 137,000 breast cancer patients, found meaningfully higher five-year survival among GLP-1 users, 95.8 percent versus 91.3 percent. All three are observational. The lead investigators are already calling for a prospective trial before anyone treats the result as causal.
Upcoming Conferences & Events
Oct 6, A Clinician's Masterclass on VO2 Max · Virtual · Free · Live session with Brooks Leitner, MD PhD of VO Health and Sunita Mohanty of Ultralight on bringing VO2 max into clinical practice. Ultralight will be there!
Oct 8-10, A4M Women's Health Summit · San Antonio, TX · The best clinical education on hormone, metabolic, and midlife women's health you will see this year. The room to be in if you are growing the perimenopause and menopause side of your practice.
Oct 17-18, Roundtable of Longevity Clinics · Buck Institute, Novato, CA · Some 250 longevity clinic leaders, physicians, and researchers working toward shared standards for longevity testing and interventions. In-person and virtual tickets are open. Ultralight will be there!
Oct 21-23, DOC (Living Room Lab) · Sonoma, CA · Salon-style sessions on longevity science and medical AI with faculty from UCSF, Stanford, and the Buck, plus validated diagnostics in the Living Room Lab. Ultralight will be there!
Oct 21-24, NAMS Annual Meeting · San Diego, CA · The single most practice-changing meeting of the year for midlife women's health. Your protocols will look different after this one.
Nov 5-8, Eudēmonia Summit · West Palm Beach, FL · One of the most talked-about longevity gatherings in the U.S. With experientials, hands-on demos, and the best place to try the emerging frameworks your patients will ask you about next year. OvationLab and Ultralight will be there!
Nov 5-7, Private Physicians Alliance Annual Meeting · St. Petersburg, FL · The gathering for independent, cash-pay, and concierge physicians navigating practice independence. Practical and peer-driven. Ultralight will be there!
Nov 8-11, American College of Lifestyle Medicine Conference · Orlando, FL · Lifestyle medicine's main annual event — evidence-based approaches to behavior change, chronic disease, and healthspan. Growing overlap with the longevity medicine community.
Nov 10-13, Valley Forum 2026 · Napa Valley, CA · Invitation-only forum where healthcare leaders work through the industry's hard problems, AI's role in care among them. Ultralight will be there!
Dec 11-13, A4M Longevity Fest · Las Vegas, NV · The biggest longevity event in the U.S. The room spans clinicians, industry, founders, and the people building next year's platforms, and the connections from this one tend to compound through the rest of your year. OvationLab and Ultralight will be there!
Know of an event we should add? Reply and tell us.
Until next week
Apple just made it easier for her to show up with labs in hand and questions ready. The panel isn't going away, and neither is the interpretation visit only you can run.
Know a clinician who's already fielding these printouts? Forward this to them.
Until next week, keep building the practice you imagined when you started.
— Dr. G and Sunita