LetsGetChecked deepens partnership with Clinisys
Innovative B2B and at-home care provider relies on Clinisys Laboratory Solutions to support its laboratories in the US and Ireland.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that successful home healthcare was critical to public health and has accelerated public acceptance of home testing to support health and wellness.
LetsGetChecked, a leading global healthcare solutions company, has long been positioned to meet this demand, thanks to its development of bespoke laboratories in the US and Ireland that have been purpose-built to test samples from B2B clients and consumers.
The company is committed to using innovative technology to improve the collection, processing and reporting of tests, and has put the Clinisys laboratory information system (LIS) at the heart of its approach.
Sam Jones, VP of Strategic Operations for LetsGetChecked Labs, says: “LetsGetChecked chose Clinisys as our partner for its US operations, so it made sense to extend the same solution to its facility in Dublin. It’s a fully supported, third party laboratory information system, with its own support team behind it.”
“Clinisys Clinical LaboratoryTM is incredibly robust, yet also fully customisable, which means we can have full confidence in the product, while creating some novel adaptations to support our custom workflows,” says Jones.
Empowering people to live longer, happier lives
LetsGetChecked’s mission is to empower people to take control of their health and to help people live longer, happier lives. LetsGetChecked is co-headquartered in New York and Dublin and has more than 700 employees.
The company provides tailored, at-home healthcare solutions to more than 300 organisations, including major corporations, universities, and healthcare management organisations. And it is growing its consumer business with a focus on sexual health, public health, women’s and men’s health, and wellness.
Jones explains: “LetsGetChecked was founded in Dublin, Ireland but we wanted to prove the concept in the US. Strategically, the US has a large English-speaking population, and a long-standing commitment to personalised medicine.
“We set up our lab in Los Angeles just prior to the pandemic, which helped us to meet the new demand for at-home COVID-19 testing.
“We anticipated several years of effort to accustom individuals to the novel idea of virtual care and at-home health testing. But with COVID-19, that idea had already taken hold by the time we opened the Dublin lab.”
Robust, configurable computing to support lab challenges
Clinisys Clinical LaboratoryTM is one of a suite of robust, affordable laboratory solutions built on the Clinisys PlatformTM, which provides the data architecture and infrastructure to support any kind of lab, whether it’s involved in agricultural testing, environmental analysis, food and drink testing, public health, toxicology – or clinical pathology.
Each Clinisys Laboratory Solution is built both to fulfil core requirements ‘out of the box’ and to be highly configurable, so it can be set up to respond to different demands. As an example, LetsGetChecked wanted to make it easier for front-end lab personnel to book in samples.
Innovating to meet customer demands
The company has developed a single website, application, and its own custom EMR, to enable its own staff and clinicians to look up test results, which interfaces with Clinisys Clinical Laboratory.
Clinisys’ solution supports teams caring for individuals who need help or advice about their test results. Jones says: “Following your LetsGetChecked test result, customers have the opportunity to schedule a virtual consultation to discuss their results and what the next steps are.”
The company is also exploring new devices to make it easier for individuals to collect blood. As Jones notes, lancets work – but they’re not always popular with individuals. “Our differential is small-scale chemistry, or running tests on a small amount of sample, for example. Most of LetsGetChecked tests that require blood only need 0.3ml of sample taken in a single collection,” he says.
“To support that, we have done a couple of things. We have designed a phlebotic assistant (P.A.) device that sits on the finger and vibrates to stimulate blood flow into the capillary beds, so that when you use the lancet you get increased blood flow for an easier sample collection.”
Your success is our success
Innovative organisations like LetsGetChecked need equally innovative suppliers that are willing to adapt their products to respond to new demands.
Mark Spencer, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at Clinisys, points out that Clinisys has a track record of doing this, not just for new entrants like LetsGetChecked, but for established public laboratories.
For instance, as LetsGetChecked massively expanded its COVID-19 testing, Clinisys was also working with the Republic of Ireland’s National Virus Reference Laboratory on a rapid LIMS deployment with future-proof capacity at its Backweston Laboratory Campus.
“There is no doubt that COVID-19 has changed testing for good,” Spencer says. “Health services are more aware than ever of the importance of pathology to their operations, while consumers now want tests of all kinds at home. We are working hard to respond to those demands, and it’s exciting to see so much innovation coming through as a result.”
“We’re delighted with the way that things have worked out with the LetsGetChecked partnership and continue to feel that our partner’s success is our success.” he says.