Mayo Clinic has teamed up with a health technology company to launch a new digital service focused on reducing the high cost of testing and care for COVID-19, sexually transmitted diseases and other common medical conditions.

Mayo Clinic is partnering with Los Angeles-based Safe Health Group on the venture to improve access to efficient, affordable treatment for common medical conditions, the health system announced in conjunction with the start of the HLTH 2020 virtual conference Monday.

The venture will focus on testing for STDs and common ailments but will initially target COVID-19 through symptom tracking and testing by linking consumers, clinicians and test distribution into one digital solution, called HealthCheck.

HealthCheck is a smartphone and desktop app that’s designed to provide real-time health status verification while also protecting consumer privacy, much like a health passport, according to Ken Mayer, CEO of Safe Health Systems.

The SAFE platform emerged from the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care’s MedTech Accelerator program, a program designed to accelerate use-inspired research and improve patient care and outcomes through innovations. The venture will be part of The Mayo Clinic Platform, an initiative launched in January that uses emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, connected health devices and natural language processing for healthcare innovations.

Source: www.fiercehealthcare.com