Recuro’s At-Home Testing Expert Shares “Best Practices” and Industry Future at American Telemedicine Association’s 2021 Conference
Allison Martin, a founder and executive director of Recuro Health, recently joined a panel at the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference to talk about emerging tech for lingering gaps in virtual care and exploring remote testing and diagnostics in the home.
Recuro’s at-home diagnostic and health screening software platform is designed to personalize the at-home testing experience. Its COVID-19 rapid test solution was one of 12 companies nationwide featured in May at the HHS TOPx Solution Showcase. The virtual event was co-hosted by the U.S. Census Bureau and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Martin was joined by Dr. Mary Rogers, an infectious disease scientist, who is a part of the R&D teams that have developed all of Abbott’s Labs at-home tests, including COVID diagnostic tests, along with Dr. Steve Goldberg, VP and chief health officer, at Quest Diagnostics, who works with their employee health program team and the employer population health solutions business.
The session explored the evolution of remote exams and home testing and how Recuro and others met the challenges during the pandemic and how they plan to move forward in the next era.
For Martin, the pandemic changed her at-home lab testing platform from home screening tests for 78 diseases including cancer, to a COVID-19 PCR testing solution recognized by the HHS. The pandemic also expanded the use of home testing and changed how data is used to solve problems for payers and providers.
Martin added that with the expansion of home testing during COVID there was a lot of noise, a lot of confusion and a lot of fragmentation which is still a concern. Figuring out what to do with the data is essential. “Are we trying to get people back to work? Are we trying to solve the continuum of care based on screening gaps? Are we trying to solve for cancer prevention?” she asked the panel adding that using the data to solve problems is what’s been highlighted through COVID.
With more rapid, onsite home testing available, Martin and other panelists said they believe traditional lab testing would not become obsolete but that it would become more specialized and there’s a need for more technical and more esoteric testing. Meanwhile, this surge has made everyone perform at a higher level as well as accelerate and bolster the at-home testing industry and patients will benefit the most in the short-term.
Recuro has been working with national labs and test developers and believes in risk stratifying the appropriate test at the appropriate time which is part of its integrated platform solution that is patient friendly and personalized to the patients it serves. The platform is adaptable and scalable to future technologies in the home. It can also help manage chronic disease and support patients and get them the answers and appropriate care they need. In addition, it can drive improved outcome and reduce healthcare costs.
When choosing a platform, it’s important to pick one that is adaptable and solution-oriented to integrate into existing workflows and designed to solve the problems at-hand (i.e., flu season, cancer and oncology, etc.) with the right data to inform decisions.
