Company Spotlight – LetsGetChecked
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Company Spotlight - LetsGetChecked
Direct access to testing and clinical support from home.
May 2021 – At-home services have transformed our lives. We don’t go shopping anymore, Amazon delivers. We don’t go to the cinema anymore, we switch on Netflix. We don’t go to the gym anymore, we hop on our Peloton bike.
Yet, for healthcare, we still struggle to get appointments, requiring us to book days or weeks in advance. We spend hours sitting in waiting rooms. We may go to additional sites to have blood or other samples taken. We wait a few more days before going back to the physician to discuss the results. More appointments, more waiting rooms, more inconvenience, and more time passes before we get a diagnosis or treatment.
LetsGetChecked’s vision is to empower customers to access seamless expert healthcare for a wide range of conditions from the convenience of the home, so people can live longer, happier lives.
Accessibility, convenience, and privacy
In 2015, Peter Foley, Founder and CEO, launched LetsGetChecked to become a virtual care company that would reimagine the healthcare system. “No one should endure a medical issue just because a diagnostic test is not available or offered,” said Foley about his motivation to found LetsGetChecked.
Today, LetsGetChecked offers 30+ home collection diagnostic tests ranging from hormone level and sexual health tests to an FDA EUA-authorized, direct-to-consumer Coronavirus (COVID-19) test. The whole process is simple and seamless: Tests are purchased online. A sample collection kit arrives at the customer’s home. They return the sample in a pre-paid envelope. The analysis is performed on state-of-the art equipment. The result is delivered digitally into LetsGetChecked’s app or by email. If there is an abnormal result, an in-house nurse provides further consultations regarding potential next steps to be taken. During the whole journey, a physician approves and reviews the order and results.
LetsGetChecked has performed over 2 million tests to date. Customers appreciate the availability of tests that otherwise might not have been easily accessible. They value the convenience of being able to provide a sample at home, when they have time. They praise the privacy of the experience.
Rising to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic
Telehealth offers were already very much present before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, forced lock-downs and social distancing regulations have supercharged their adoption. Telehealth suddenly was not only about convenience anymore. In-person healthcare meant that there was a risk of transmitting a potentially deadly virus.
“The pandemic has accelerated the development of LetsGetChecked and the telehealth field by at least 3-5 years,” says Nick Naclerio, Ph.D., Founding Partner at Illumina Ventures. “We anticipated some tailwinds from COVID-19 testing. But we were blown away by the speed at which the company managed to scale to the challenge.”
In contrast to some competitors, LetsGetChecked owns their entire supply chain, end-to-end, including elements such as kit manufacturing, distribution, laboratory, and an in-house clinical team. This level of sophistication and control, as well as a high degree of customization, has given business customers, such as KAYAK or the PGA European Tour, the confidence to select LetsGetChecked as their preferred COVID-19 test provider.
Expanding the offering
Telehealth has seen tremendous uptake in the last 12 months. More and more people have now had first-hand experience with remote healthcare offerings. Many will keep using these services, even when in-person clinical care finally returns to pre-pandemic accessibility.
LetsGetChecked plans to leverage this change for further growth. Recently, they announced more hiring and the establishment of a lab in Dublin, Ireland. Broader menus, making diagnostic results more actionable, as well as geographical expansion beyond their core markets are being discussed.
“We are excited to support the team,” says Naclerio. “For healthcare in general, and diagnostic tests in particular, digitization and remote delivery still offer huge efficiency gains. At-home testing is here to stay and we look forward to the journey ahead.”
To learn more, visit www.letsgetchecked.com.