Why digital health brands are bundling diagnostics into their subscriptions

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By Chris Aker, Chief Commercial Officer

TL;DR: 3 reasons diagnostics belong in the subscription

• A recurring charge isn’t recurring value. Diagnostics turn a subscription into a feedback loop: baseline, decide, measure, adjust.
• The test isn’t the differentiator. Adding diagnostics is relatively easy. Building a care experience around the results is what’s hard to copy.
• Patients want connected care. Bringing diagnostics and follow-up care together can reduce the need for separate services and give patients a more cohesive experience

Diagnostics are becoming a bigger part of digital health subscriptions as brands expand beyond the point solutions that first brought patients through the door.

I’m hearing it in almost every conversation I have with digital health operators. Many have already done something difficult: built a brand people trust with their health. Now they want to know what comes next. One of my answers is whole-health diagnostics.

I’ve experienced this firsthand, and I wrote about it earlier this year after doing my own 100+ biomarker panel with a telehealth clinician through the OpenLoop® Whole-Health Diagnostic program.

Diagnostics can help clinicians understand a patient’s health, determine whether an intervention is appropriate, and evaluate how that intervention is working over time. For patients, it’s a way to break out of generic annual health advice and into more personalized treatment.

If you’re a founder, growth lead, or product strategist at a digital health brand, here’s why I think diagnostics belong in the subscription.

1. How diagnostics can strengthen subscription-based care

Subscription models are not new to digital health. But there’s a meaningful difference between charging for continued access and delivering care that evolves over the life of the subscription.

Diagnostics can add a feedback loop to ongoing care:

• Establish a baseline. Give clinicians more information to understand where a patient is starting.
• Inform the next decision. Results can help determine whether a treatment, medication, or other intervention is appropriate.
• Measure change. Clinically appropriate follow-up testing can help evaluate progress alongside symptoms, patient-reported outcomes, and other health information.
• Adjust when needed. New information can help show whether the care plan is working, needs to change, or is still necessary.

The demand is already showing up:

• 76% of healthcare provider executives surveyed by Deloitte expect consumer- and patient-initiated demand to significantly change the diagnostics market over the next three years.
• 92% of those providers said they are already offering or exploring patient-initiated testing.
• 27% of patients have pursued blood testing out of curiosity, independent of a doctor’s recommendation, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Siemens Healthineers.

A recurring charge is not the same thing as recurring value. Diagnostics create an opportunity to make the care itself more responsive as the patient changes.

For digital health brands, that creates a different kind of growth opportunity. Instead of continually acquiring patients for isolated services, they can deepen relationships with people who already know and trust the brand. The subscription becomes more than a way to maintain access to one solution. It becomes the structure for ongoing care.

2. Clinical follow-up determines the value of diagnostics

Health data has never been easier to collect. The real challenge is turning it into something that actually changes care.

Wearables make the point. According to Rock Health’s 2025 Consumer Adoption of Digital Health Survey:

• 57% of U.S. adults own at least one wearable or connected device.
• Among owners, 59% have already discussed their data with a healthcare provider, and another 20% want to.
• Major wearable makers are building bloodwork integrations that turn biometric signals into follow-up recommendations.

Patients are bringing more personal health data into clinical conversations, and digital health brands are incorporating diagnostics into their existing services.

Diagnostics face the same test. A result is only as valuable as the system behind it. Clinical interpretation, patient communication, follow-up, escalation, and retesting all have to live inside the care model. That gap between delivering data and acting on it is exactly where AI is starting to support at-home diagnostics.

Consider what a single result can mean. It might support a change in treatment. It might call for further evaluation. Sometimes the right next step is no intervention at all, and knowing that is just as important.

That’s why more data doesn’t automatically mean better care. Patients need to understand what a result means for them and what, if anything, to do next. The weight they place on results proves it: in the same Siemens Healthineers survey, 94% said they’re more likely to follow a doctor’s advice when it’s backed by test results.

Anyone can replicate a testing menu. A system that turns results into responsible, ongoing care is far harder to build. That’s the real differentiator.

3. Diagnostics are the connective tissue for whole-health care

Digital health grew in part by making specific areas of healthcare easier to access. Companies went narrow, built better consumer experiences around clearly defined needs, and earned trust with particular patient populations.

That focus has been a strength. But consumers are feeling the fragmentation it created. According to PwC’s 2025 U.S. Healthcare Consumer Insights Survey:

• Fragmentation is the No. 1 pain point for healthcare consumers.
• Only 26% said it was very easy to see their medical records across providers or systems.
• 65% want a healthcare system built around prevention, not treatment.

Hormones, sleep, weight, and metabolic health can influence one another. Patients managing these concerns may need to coordinate care across several providers and subscriptions.

A patient may enter a digital health program because of one immediate need. Diagnostics can provide additional context around that need, help clinicians track change over time, and, when clinically appropriate, surface other areas that warrant attention. It’s part of a broader move toward whole-health care that patients are already asking for.

That does not make every test an invitation to sell another service. It gives the care team better information to determine what is relevant and what is not.

For digital health leaders, integrating diagnostics can help connect services around a patient’s broader health needs while supporting continuity of care.

Three questions to ask before you add diagnostics

At OpenLoop, we’re seeing this shift firsthand. Brands that have built trust around one health need are increasingly looking for ways to support more of the patient journey without having to build every clinical capability themselves.

Before adding diagnostics, consider three questions:

• What information would actually change a clinical decision?
• Who will interpret the result?
• What happens next, for every possible result, including a normal one?

Most operators underestimate question three. Adding diagnostics responsibly takes more than ordering a test, and we’ve written separately about how to launch metabolic whole-health testing that connects testing, results, clinical interpretation, and follow-up. If you’re weighing an at-home option, start with our guide to the best at-home kits for hormone testing.

If the strategy begins and ends with “we can offer more tests,” you’re starting in the wrong place.

From access to depth

The larger strategic point extends beyond diagnostics: adding more services does not necessarily create a more complete healthcare experience. The connections between them do.

Digital health’s first chapter was largely about access. Companies proved they could make specific areas of healthcare easier to reach and easier to use. I think the next chapter will be about depth: building on the relationships those brands have already earned.

Diagnostics will not create that relationship on their own. They can give clinicians information that carries from one interaction to the next, making care more informed as a patient’s needs change.

That’s what I’d be watching now: not which digital health brands add the longest testing menu, but which ones use diagnostics to make the rest of the care experience more connected and useful.

Ready to add diagnostics to your care model?

OpenLoop powers the clinician network, pharmacy and lab partners, and operational support behind 400+ virtual care brands, serving 1M patients per month. If you’re a digital health brand looking to add diagnostics without building every clinical capability yourself, we can help you launch on turnkey infrastructure built to meet state and federal telehealth requirements, all under your brand.

Talk to our team about what Pharmacy & Diagnostics could look like for your organization.

This content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a licensed attorney.