Scanwell Health, a modern diagnostics company dedicated to making healthcare more convenient and accessible, today announced that its at-home smartphone-enabled test and treatment service for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) is now available in all 50 states. Through a partnership with Lemonaid Health, a telehealth company that enables patients to quickly, safely and inexpensively receive care online, people across the country can now diagnose UTIs using Scanwell’s test and app, then receive immediate treatment from a Lemonaid physician or nurse practitioner. Scanwell’s UTI test is the only FDA-cleared urine testing app available over-the-counter without a prescription.
In addition, the company also announced that it has raised $3.5M of seed funding from investors including Founders Fund, Mayfield, DCM, Version One, Y Combinator and Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures. The proceeds of the financing will be used to support the national launch, develop new diagnostics, and hire additional team members.
“This funding from an incredible group of investors, together with the national launch of our test and app, are exciting milestones that will allow us to realize our vision of making reliable, convenient at-home testing available to millions of people,” said Stephen Chen, founder and CEO of Scanwell Health. “Our partnership with Lemonaid is only the beginning. We have a number of additional diagnostic tests in the pipeline that have the potential to change the way we diagnose and treat infections and monitor chronic diseases. We look forward to working with additional partners to bring these tests to people across the country.”
Using the Scanwell test kit and the Scanwell iOS or Android app, people can quickly and accurately determine whether they have a high concentration of leukocytes and nitrites in their urine, indicating that they could have a UTI. Scanwell’s test provides a result in as little as two minutes, with the same diagnostic accuracy as a urinalysis performed in a clinic. If the user has signs of a UTI they are directly connected with Lemonaid’s virtual team of physicians and nurse practitioners, who can prescribe antibiotics if needed. Scanwell’s tests are available via scanwellhealth.com for $15 per pack of three tests.
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“UTIs are a common, painful medical condition prompting 10 million doctor visits in the United States each year,” said Davis Liu, M.D., Chief Clinical Officer of Lemonaid Health. “We are committed to providing the very best in patient care. Scanwell Health’s innovative at-home UTI test will help our clinicians treat more people by providing patients a convenient, fast way to provide clinically reliable diagnostic information to their online doctor.”
“Before Scanwell Health, virtual visits for UTIs relied on patient-reported symptoms for diagnosis,” said Jack Jeng, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Scanwell Health. “Recent studies suggest that this approach results in 30-50% of cases being treated inappropriately with antibiotics. With the growing threat of antibiotic resistance and the call for improved antibiotic stewardship, clinicians are now more judicious in how we treat common infections like UTIs.”
Scanwell Health’s UTI test was conceived by founder, Stephen Chen, based on his experience developing Petnostics, an at-home urine testing solution to detect and monitor health conditions in dogs and cats. Petnostics was featured on Shark Tank and received a $300,000 offer from Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary.
Scanwell also has a partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study to improve screening for and monitoring chronic kidney disease (CKD) at home. Through this collaboration, Scanwell is using its urinalysis technology to screen participants’ urine for excess proteins. Increased access to screening may help identify CKD in more people at an earlier stage, allowing for timely lifestyle interventions to help stem the progression of the disease.
Source: BusinessWire
