BOSTON—Healthy.io and Reset Kidney Health, a hybrid care platform that offers multidisciplinary care to patients with kidney disease, have announced a partnership that will give patients the option to utilize at-home, smartphone-powered kidney testing. Through this partnership, Reset will provide eligible patients with Healthy.io's Minuteful Kidney test to complete at home. Additionally, patients who are interested in re-engaging with their kidney care can request a test kit through the Reset Kidney Health platform.
"We are excited to partner with Healthy.io to provide our patients with an at-home testing option that matches our mission to provide excellent quality care that is also convenient and accessible," said Arun Sharma, co-founder of Reset Kidney Health. "It's important to us to take a multidisciplinary approach to kidney care, including utilizing innovative technology like Minuteful Kidney to help us improve detection, drive increased engagement and ultimately slow disease progression."
The Minuteful Kidney test will help Reset identify the patients with evidence of disease and enable them to actively participate in their kidney care. With Reset's team of nephrologists, nurses, dietitians and therapists, combined with the health insights from Minuteful Kidney, eligible patients in Ohio, Alabama, Wisconsin, Florida and Montana will receive convenient and personalized care by improving access and removing traditional barriers which may otherwise be inhibiting their care management.
"Healthy.io is uniquely positioned to support virtual solutions, such as Reset Kidney Health, as a mechanism to enable in-home clinical grade insights while engaging patients in their care," said Paula LeClair, U.S. general manager at Healthy.io. "Minuteful Kidney is a solution that patients can use in the comfort of their homes and at any point in their health care journey, whether they have already sought out and prefer virtual care options or are looking for an easy way to learn more about their kidney health."
Nearly 37 million American adults are estimated to have chronic kidney disease (CKD), and one in three American adults is at risk. Unfortunately, as many as nine out of 10 people with CKD don't realize they have it because of its lack of symptoms. To improve early detection and prevent disease progression that could eventually require dialysis or a kidney transplant, clinicians recommend an annual albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) test for those at risk, yet only 20% of them take it.
For patients in rural or underserved populations, access, transportation and cost can create barriers to health care services like lab testing or specialty programs. Healthy.io and Reset align in their desire to provide care to those who need it most, all from the comfort of home. By supporting virtual-enabled care, both organizations can engage patients regardless of their location and provide access to critical, specialty care services they may not otherwise receive.
Healthy.io said at-home testing with Minuteful Kidney can raise testing adherence rates up to 50% among previously untested populations, irrespective of demographic and socioeconomic differences. Through this partnership, Healthy.io and Reset Kidney Health will provide virtual, at-home care options to engage and motivate patients who may have, or be at risk for, CKD—even in rural or underserved areas. Working together to take a proactive, preventive approach to kidney care can help increase early detection, slow disease progression, avert dialysis and ease the heavy burden on the health care system caused by kidney disease.
