I’m Stephen, the founder of Scanwell Health (https://shop.scanwellhealth.com). We’re a modern diagnostics company, and we’ve created the first at-home UTI (urinary tract infection) test with same-day treatment options.
With a lifetime of experience in the diagnostics industry (literally––my family’s business is in manufacturing in-vitro diagnostics, and my first summer job was assembling pregnancy tests), I’ve always been interested in making these tests more convenient and cost-effective.
Why start with UTIs? Some studies estimate that up to 60% of women experience UTIs, prompting 10 million doctor visits in the US each year. Getting treatment for a UTI at urgent care costs around $150, while visits to the emergency room can cost over $2000––and one study found that ER visits for UTIs adds $4B a year in unnecessary healthcare costs. By taking the same urine test performed in doctor’s offices, hospitals, emergency rooms, etc. and making it accessible to anyone who has a Scanwell UTI test kit and a smartphone, we’re drastically reducing the time and cost it takes to treat UTIs.
Just like a traditional test, ours uses a chemically treated test strip that reacts with the patient’s urine sample. But instead of being read by a urine analyzer in a lab, the Scanwell app uses computer vision to assess the results. Results are provided to the patient in 2 minutes, with the same diagnostic accuracy as a urinalysis performed in a clinic. If the user has signs of a UTI, we’ll directly connect them to a healthcare provider who can prescribe treatment.
Our UTI product is FDA-cleared, and we are working to obtain clearances for other tests. One such test is our chronic kidney disease (CKD) test, which is currently being piloted with Kaiser Permanente to improve screening for and monitoring of chronic kidney disease at home.
Telehealth continues to grow but the piece that is missing is diagnostics, and that’s what we hope to provide. Whether it’s for detecting acute conditions like UTIs or managing longer term conditions like chronic kidney disease, we believe that the more we can enable at-home testing the more accessible healthcare will be for everyone.
We’re excited to hear your feedback and answer any questions you might have about Scanwell. Thanks everyone!
by Andrey
Azimov