Even when experiencing mild symptoms for COVID-19, acting fast to seek treatment if you are high risk can help change the course of the disease for millions of Americans.
Ada Health Inc. (‘Ada’), a global digital health company focused on improving human health at scale, today announces the launch of its first digital condition-based care journey, designed to help people understand if they meet current criteria for progression to severe COVID-19 and connect with a health care provider for evaluation of their COVID-19 symptoms and treatment options.
Almost 200M Americans have one or more risk factors, such as being 50 or older, being pregnant, a smoker, overweight or having certain common medical conditions – such as diabetes or asthma that puts them at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19[2]. However, many people are not aware of their increased risk. COVID-19 remains the third leading cause of death in the US[3], currently causing an average of over 400 deaths a day[4].
“Tackling conditions such as COVID-19 swiftly and effectively is imperative to improving people’s wellbeing and livelihoods, as well as alleviating the immense pressure it puts on global health systems and economies” said Daniel Nathrath, CEO and co-founder of Ada. “The Ada COVID-19 Care Journey aims to significantly reduce the time from testing to treatment for users, and we firmly believe that it has the potential to improve health outcomes for millions.”
The COVID-19 Care Journey is an online platform operated by Ada and developed in partnership with Pfizer. The platform hosts an independent telehealth and ePharmacy provider option. The care journey allows users to:
- learn whether they are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 using a convenient, personalized self-assessment tool based on CDC, FDA and NIH guidelines
- assess their options for consulting a healthcare provider if they test positive
- connect to a health care provider through telehealth, to assess their symptoms and treatment eligibility within 2 hours, for a low out of pocket cost
- if prescribed, obtain a prescription for an authorized oral treatment for COVID-19 for same-day pick up at a local pharmacy. There are plans to expand the platform to offer the option of home medication delivery
Access to timely, affordable, and widely available consultation with a healthcare professional and treatment for COVID-19 remains unevenly distributed across the United States. While programs have emerged in some states and cities to support patient access to testing and treatment, few services are available nationwide that may overcome cost and availability barriers.
“Connected digital health initiatives are a key step in lower cost, faster, more equitable and more convenient access to healthcare. Our collaboration with Ada is designed to educate patients on high-risk factors for severe COVID-19 and introduce choices for people to access a provider and learn about treatment options.” said JoyL Silva, Global and U.S. Antiviral Franchise Lead, Pfizer. “We are excited to be a part of this COVID-19 Care Journey and for its potential to help reach some of the most vulnerable patients across the United States”.
Users can access the Ada COVID-19 Care Journey via Ada’s dedicated COVID-19 Care Journey website[5], by conducting a self-screening in the Ada app, or following a symptom assessment in the Ada app which indicates COVID-19 as a possible condition.
To improve access to care for millions of Americans, Ada will continue to expand its end-to-end care journeys for a range of other diseases and conditions and add more functionality to its condition-based care journey offering.