AI startup Doctronic is partnering with Simple HealthKit, an at-home health screening platform, to offer consumers end-to-end diagnostic screening integrated with virtual clinical care.
Doctronic and Simple HealthKit provided Fierce Healthcare with a first look at the partnership.
Simple HealthKit provides an at-home health testing service that allows consumers to privately collect samples (like blood, urine or saliva) and mail them to a certified lab. The company has a growing portfolio of at-home screening programs across diabetes, chronic kidney disease, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections and other preventive health conditions.
Simple HealthKit offers the at-home screening kits directly to consumers through its website and retail partners and also works with health plans, providers and public health programs.
"Through this partnership [with Doctronic], we are initially focused on the conditions where we can deliver the greatest immediate impact across our national health plan and retail partnerships, with plans to expand across our broader portfolio over time. Our vision is to make high quality healthcare accessible for all," Simple HealthKit co-founder and CEO Sheena Menezes, Ph.D., told Fierce Healthcare.
Doctronic touts that it's the first AI system legally authorized to practice medicine in the U.S. The startup offers a free personal AI doctor via chatbot to help navigate symptoms and answer medical questions and can connect users with a licensed physician through a virtual visit. Doctronic, available in all 50 states, is being tested by the state of Utah to refill prescriptions as part of a pilot program.
Adam Oskowitz, M.D., co-CEO and co-founder of Doctronic, told Fierce Healthcare via email that patients will first purchase the Simple HealthKit test and are then directed to Doctronic after the test results. "Once they arrive the AI will already be aware of the test results and guide the patient through the medical evaluation with that knowledge," Oskowitz said.
Once the screening test results are available, patients with positive findings are referred back to Doctronic for timely clinical follow-up care. The result is a continuous, closed-loop care experience powered by AI, clinical oversight and collective intelligence, and designed around the patient, according to both companies.
"In the near future we will also be directing patients at risk to Simple HealthKit for at-home testing, but that is a fast follow," he said.
"Partnering with Doctronic means that when a patient gets a result, they have immediate access to an AI health assistant for questions and a complete consultation with a real doctor for care. That's the promise of what we are building together," Menezes said.
Doctronic's Simple HealthKit closes one of the biggest remaining gaps in digital health: the space between suspecting a problem and getting treated, Oskowitz, "Together, we're building the infrastructure for a new kind of healthcare," he noted.
Similar to its ongoing evaluation, Doctronic will measure the ability to properly evaluate the patients presentation and make a correct suggestion for next steps, Oskowitz said. "Since all patients will be seen by a human physician after the AI consultation we can then compare the human recommendation to the AI," he said.
Healthcare has traditionally been siloed and has lacked continuity, Menezes said.
"Too many people fall through the cracks between recognizing a health concern, getting screened, and receiving the care they need. Together, we are creating one connected journey that reflects the innovation and changing consumer expectations shaping healthcare today. It makes it simple for patients to move from concern to screening to treatment without any barriers," she said.
More than 108 million Americans live in primary care shortage areas, representing roughly 27% to 30% of the total U.S. population, according to HRSA data.
Simple HealthKit's integration with Doctronic helps to close those access gaps, Menezes asserted.
The partnership comes as both companies are rapidly growing.
Doctronic's platform now serves more than 300,000 unique weekly users and recently became the first AI-native platform authorized to autonomously renew prescriptions in the U.S., company executives said.
Simple HealthKit is expanding its partnerships with nationwide health plans, pharma companies, governments and health systems through programs spanning chronic conditions, cancer screening, STI testing, including enterprise collaborations with Amazon and Walmart.
AI-powered clinical care services continue to grow as companies use AI chatbots for symptom checking, triage and navigation.
Menezes asserts that the tie-up with Doctronic is "not simply a partnership. It is a new blueprint for healthcare."
"For the first time, AI-powered health guidance, Simple HealthKit's AI-native engagement platform, at-home screening, and clinical follow-up come together in one seamless experience. Instead of asking patients to navigate a fragmented healthcare system, we are building one that guides them every step of the way. We believe this is the future of healthcare, where technology does not replace care, it makes care more accessible, connected, and human," she said.