A health IT startup that’s part of a group of companies carving a niche in the healthcare market for patients desiring direct digital access to their diagnostic test results has raised $1 million. Its platform connects labs and physician practices to patients. It was started last year in the run-up to a legal requirement for labs to enable patients to get a digital copy of their results.
Luminate Health, which graduated from Blueprint Health’s accelerator program earlier this year, offers a software-as-a-service platform that helps patients understand their lab results and is designed to save time on physicians’ communications with patients.
KEC Holdings led the seed round.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Although the Department of Health and Human Services has delayed enforcement for CLIA-certified labs, the enforcement delay does not apply to laboratories that operate as part of a larger legal entity, such as a hospital.
Direct access to their lab results is something that many patients have pushed for and polls reveal a strong appetite for this information. Critics worry that patients receiving test results without a physician’s context are liable to assume the worst and act accordingly.
Another startup that has responded to the demand is Medivo. Other startups are developing diagnostic tools for smartphones and tablets that use a sample of a user’s blood or saliva to produce results, often in connection with a lab.
