Certific’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Jonathan Andrews thinks medical knowledge can only take us so far. Technology can help us to overcome the bottleneck of limited resources and go beyond. It’s about time for medical testing to get out of the 90’s and take a leap into the future!
Not so very long ago, people would have laughed at the thought of instantly transferring 1000 euros from the palm of their hand. Now, we laugh to think of the inconvenience we used to deal with going to a bank branch during set hours and queuing to speak to a bank teller. All that in order to make a simple money transfer. We have automated so much of that process in banking. Why shouldn’t this automation be more commonplace in medical diagnostics? As in banking, there are standards to be met and variables to account for, but the unprecedented and sudden need for worldwide self-testing for COVID-19 has already given a glimpse of what is possible.
Doctor-based companies often underestimate the need to invest in widely skilled teams, technology, and consumer research. The medical community tends to be quite conservative and so we have a lot to learn from those in fintech. That’s why Certific’s team is so effective - it unites the superstars from all sides. We cannot scale the number of healthcare professionals in line with demand, so it makes total sense to empower patients with the knowledge and means to safely perform simpler medical tests at home. It can radically free up the healthcare professional’s time, which can then be utilised for more complicated work and also save time, money and effort for the patient. It can really improve the accessibility of healthcare and reduce inequality for people living in remote areas, far away from hospitals.
Our technology is unique, trustworthy and scalable. Many other companies are trying to make testing more affordable and that’s great. But Certific is the only one making sure that testing is done to a medical laboratory standard. We’re building a system that puts it all together, considering both the medical and legal requirements and creating a secure and trustworthy platform that is easy to use and helps to decentralise the testing process.
Certific started off with COVID tests, but the platform can now be used for multiple point-of-care tests including swabs, blood and urine tests. We can therefore offer disease screening, drug and alcohol testing, anti-doping tests, as well as offering ‘test and treat’ services for Urinary Tract Infections (UTI’s) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s). These ‘test and treat’ products are currently being launched in the UK and will allow patients to not only test at home, but enable them to get a prescription, (based on their results) without having to physically attend a clinic or hospital. In the long-term, we need to break away from having too many separate incompatible systems, so that healthcare providers from any healthcare setting around the world, public or private, can access their patient’s test results and data and thus work more efficiently and collaboratively. This will lead to better outcomes for everyone.
Clinical trials are highly regulated, very expensive to run and require frequent checks and medical tests to be performed. Furthermore, clinical trials are always run on a tight budget with tight deadlines. If there’s a way to minimise cost and time, by doing some tests remotely or even facilitating witnessed self-collection versus staff collection, this will save a lot of time and money. This is another great example of where Certific’s technology and processes provide unique value. This does not just stop at the testing, but also can be expanded to consenting, explanations and training as well as improving enrollment and inclusivity during the clinical trial, thereby decreasing costs.
The world’s population is aging fast and so while the need for healthcare professionals grows exponentially, the number of them is dwindling and waiting lists are ever increasing. It doesn’t make sense to use medical manpower for simple procedures that can be performed by the patients themselves, especially if we can now ensure that such procedures are performed safely, correctly and are quality assured. The 21st century is full of fantastic technology that enables us to do things quicker and easier than ever before, so it would be mad not to utilise this more in medicine. That’s why Certific are making remote medical testing safer, easier and widely available. Certific has the power to transform medical testing stuck in the past and is moving it into the present, making Chief Medical Officer Dr Jonathan Andrews excited for the future.
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