Data to be presented at ADLM 2026 show that adopting a higher-sensitivity diagnostic test could reduce misdiagnosis-related costs by nearly 80%.
PHOENIX, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aces Diagnostics (acesdiagnostics.com) announced findings from an independent health economics analysis showing that its higher-sensitivity Lyme disease (LD) diagnostic, LymeSeek, could reduce annual LD-related U.S. healthcare costs by 41.5%, from an estimated $7.65 billion to $4.48 billion. The findings will be presented by Holly Ahern, Chief Scientific Officer, Aces Diagnostics, at the Association of Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) 2026 Annual Meeting on July 27, 2026, with the abstract published in an ADLM journal.
Lyme disease is diagnostically challenging and widely underreported, with more than 500,000 cases estimated annually in the U.S. Standard two-tier serologic testing has limited sensitivity in early-stage disease, detecting less than a third of cases. These gaps contribute to frequent misdiagnosis, reported by 72% of patients in a large patient registry, allowing disease progression and driving up costs.
Aces Diagnostics worked with Boston Strategic Partners, Nicholas Bettencourt and Yiying Wang, Boston, MA, to build a budget impact model comparing standard-of-care testing with a LymeSeek-based pathway, simulating a national U.S. patient cohort with assumptions validated by U.S. payors.
Key findings:
- Early diagnosis at the localized stage of LD more than doubled, from 116,347 cases under standard of care to 238,583 with LymeSeek (+105.06%).
- False-negative results fell 79.65%, from 243,265 to 49,500 cases.
- Misdiagnosis-related healthcare costs declined 79.53%, from $6.05 billion to $1.24 billion annually.
- Total annual LD-related healthcare costs decreased 41.5%, from $7.65 billion to $4.48 billion.
- Average annual cost per positive patient fell 55.86%, from $13,383.50 to $5,907.59.
Treating localized disease costs substantially less per patient than treating disseminated disease ($1,377.88 vs. up to $7,469.00), underscoring the economic value of earlier, accurate diagnosis.
“This data shows that a better diagnostic test will save people from years of misdiagnosis and worsening illness, which will decrease the economic burden of the disease by reducing costs for both individual patients and overall,” said Holly Ahern, Chief Scientific Officer, Aces Diagnostics.
Claims-based estimates of Lyme disease costs, previously estimated at up to $1.05 billion annually, have been limited to high-incidence regions and have not captured untracked costs following misdiagnosis.
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SOURCE Aces Diagnostics