For immediate release
Beginning February 8th, inHealth Life Sciences and OnMed will combine two industry leading innovations to bring a faster and easier COVID testing process to Tampa, Florida.
"When supply chain constraints and long waits restricted our ability to test people quickly and safely, we knew we needed to do something," says Tony Michuda, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of inHealth Life Sciences. "Our development of SalivirDetect, created an ability to use a saliva based PCR method that eliminated the reliance on reagents and close encounters with patients to collect specimens."
With a saliva based collection method patients can submit themselves, inHealth began developing a testing process that focused on a well known obsession for the company - patient experience.
"We sat down with our team and built the entire program around patient needs," said Trent McCallson, Co-Founder with Michuda at inHealth. "We wanted it to be fast, contactless, and as easy as ordering a cup of coffee at Starbucks."
inHealth delivered on their promise. Their drive thru test method took care of everything from patient registration thru tele-health follow ups for result delivery back to patients. In as little as 90 seconds, patients can register for their tests through inHealth's website or a mobile QR code scanned with a camera phone. This enables patients to submit important details including their health insurance information for billing to cover the cost of the test. Patients who don't have health insurance can submit other information to qualify for federally funded programs covering the cost of their test visit. From here, patients receive barcoded test kits and need to submit a nominal amount of saliva. The process is completely contactless. Tests are sent overnight to inHealth's central laboratory with results delivered in under 48 hours by a telemedicine provider.
"We are obsessed with patient experience," says Michuda. "So we came up with a simple pre-registration process where a big family can register from home in under 5 minutes, show up with all the kids in the SUV, and be in and out of here in minutes with everyone tested. Onsite registration is equally as easy. Someone can see our signs driving down the road, pull in, register onsite, and be out of there in minutes as well. When you see it live, it's a really cool thing to watch."
With a mission to make healthcare visits easier and faster for patients, a partnership with Tampa based telemedicine provider OnMed was an ideal fit when inHealth looked to bring this innovative test method to the state of Florida.
"I've known Tony and his team for years," says Austin White, CEO and Co-Founder of OnMed. "We share a passion for exceptional healthcare services and a patient centered experience. OnMed's innovative and patented approach to telehealth and virtual medicine has been tested and proven, especially during the pandemic. Our partnership with inHealth truly compliments our platform. Both the testing and telemedicine experience are an unrivaled combination when it comes the detection and monitoring of coronavirus."
As many local testing drive thru sites shift over to vaccinations, it is timely that inHealth and OnMed are bringing their simple approach to testing to the state of Florida. Delays in vaccination deliveries still leave a need for public testing. Even as more of the general public receive their shots, there will still be an on-going need to monitor its efficacy and resilience to new strains over the course of the next year.
For more information on available test dates and times, visit: www.inhealthcorp.com/onmed