3 minute read
Out the Box
by 55 North
UTI and STI tests at your door
Zapp will deliver the tests same day, promising to make testing for these infections accessible.
On-demand delivery app Zapp has teamed up with digital health firm Certific to introduce a rapid delivery service for UTI and STI tests.
Customers can now order testing kits for UTI and STI screening (including gonorrhoea and chlamydia) via Zapp to receive diagnosis and treatment for these common infections.
WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR THIS?
There were approximately 317,000 cases of STIs diagnosed in England during 2020, and according to data from Statista, 51% of these were chlamydia. Similarly, 40% of women are expected to suffer from a UTI during their lifetime, with 4.8 million women in the UK suffering from one each year. Yet, testing and treatment for these infections are not accessible enough.
According to the two companies, other providers can take a week to process test results, which delays diagnosis and treatment, leaving the patient uncomfortable or unknowingly infecting others. Certific offers same-day results combined with Zapp’s help to get the tests to patients fast.
The delivery service will enable patients to receive same-day turnaround of results and diagnosis for STIs, and results and diagnosis for UTIs in 60 minutes – without the need for a medical centre visit. Certific’s service can be accessed through a secure and private application with guided screening to reduce inaccurate results, diagnosis, and what it described as “the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics”.
HOW IS IT SIGNIFICANT FOR RETAIL?
Covid testing made the idea of medical testing at home a reality for people who had never thought they would use this kind of service before. There are some conditions for which the need for proper medical examination is absolutely necessary, but digital health start-ups – which largely made their debut in the past decade – aim to convince a bigger slice of the population that remote testing and diagnosis should be embraced.
“The partnership with Zapp will enable us to give patients 24-hour access to medical diagnostics with the same convenience of other essential items. Covid-19 has proven that patients can perform simple medical tests to a standard that we can diagnose, without needing to see them,” commented Dr Jonathan Andrews, Chief Medical Officer of Certific.
Retail could play a significant role in this. “The needs of our customers are the key drivers of our catalogue and hence we stock thousands of products to give customers the best possible selection for when they ‘need something now’,” Steve O’Hear, VP of Strategy at Zapp, said. “We were the first rapid delivery company to stock Covid-19 tests and we launched the first dedicated ultra-fast delivery Period Store earlier this month, and we’re excited to build on this with our move into medical testing which will enable patients to order STI and UTI testing kits safely, quickly and conveniently.”
Now imagine a world where the physical connects with the digital via c-stores: it might just be a win-win for everyone involved – including patients.
