NEW YORK – Risk assessment and clinical decision support company CancerIQ and telehealth genetic counseling service GeneMatters have integrated their technologies to give care providers easier access to counselors for patients at high risk for cancer.
Under the newly announced partnership, after the CancerIQ platform identifies high-risk patients, providers can, through the same platform, schedule telehealth visits with GeneMatters counselors, the companies said. Following each remote counseling session, GeneMatters sends back a summary report through the CancerIQ portal.
"It is clear there are not enough specialists to provide this service to those who need it. With GeneMatters' platform integrated with the CancerIQ platform, we are delivering an end-to-end solution that makes it easy for any health system anywhere to incorporate genetics into their cancer prevention or population health strategy," Cancer IQ CEO Feyi Olopade Ayodele said in a statement.
"Through this collaboration, healthcare partners will be able to seamlessly use the technology and services of both organizations to better serve their patients. This partnership supports our mission to improve access to genetic counseling," added GeneMatters Cofounder and CEO Jill Davies.
Chicago-based CancerIQ and Minneapolis-based GeneMatters said that UnityPoint Health of Des Moines, Iowa, has signed on as an early user of the integrated service.
"Rather than refer these patients elsewhere for genetic counseling — which studies show can be a significant barrier to care — we wanted to bring personalized genetic counseling services to them and create a seamless patient experience," explained Alison Beardsley, director of oncology services at UnityPoint Health-Trinity, a four-hospital affiliate of UnityPoint serving the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois.
GeneMatters already partners with chatbot vendor Clear Genetics to help genetic counselors triage cases.