A new partnership between Imperial Health Plan of California and Simple HealthKit began offering at-home diagnostic tests for Imperial’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members in September.
The collaboration could help identify chronic conditions—like diabetes, colon cancer, kidney health, heart health and more—in the early stages for its most at-risk members before the conditions worsen.
“Imperial Health Plan’s goal with this program is to make healthcare more accessible, easier and more affordable for members,” said Paveljit S. Bindra, M.D., founder and CEO of Imperial Health Plan, in a statement. “Home delivery and self-administration of these free test kits will help us achieve it. We are excited to kick off this innovative program with Simple HealthKit.”
Simple HealthKit, a healthcare platform that has built a suite of at-home or in-clinic diagnostics for sexual health, respiratory health and chronic conditions, is focused on closing accessibility gaps in healthcare, said CEO and co-founder Sheena Menezes in an email to Fierce Healthcare.
As a result, the company is well equipped to help underserved populations.
“Fundamentally as an organization, if we build for underserved communities in a thoughtful way, we build for all,” she said. “Our solution is built to increase access with an omni-channel approach to meet that mission—at home, pharmacy, clinics, retail or elsewhere.”
Imperial selected Simple HealthKit due to its ability to deliver high-quality tests and foster a positive member experience, according to a press release.
It cited research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found more than 1 in 3 adults are prediabetic, and 80% of those people don’t realize it. Imperial’s MA enrollees will now have access to at-home HbA1c blood tests, important in preventing Type 2 diabetes.
“Both teams are excited for a continued partnership together given the high value and best-in-class member engagement and experience,” said Menezes.
Simple HealthKit works with health plans, universities, government agencies, healthcare organizations and major retailers to make kits widely available. Imperial members will send samples back to Simple HealthKit Labs to receive results within 24 hours of the sample’s receipt along with details on next steps and treatment options.