In Diagnostics, Faster is Better.

I have been asked this question ever since we started Orange Health Diagnostics. Faster sounds nice, but is it really required? It sounds like a nice to have.?

"After all, can't the physician give symptomatic treatment till the results come by the next day?". "If it's an emergency, we can always go to a hospital."?

These kinds of arguments oscillate between extremes - from benign to an emergency. A lot of nuances are missed out in the middle. Diagnostics is an intermediate step that a patient must go through to get their final treatment. It's not really what the patient wants, it's something they have to bear with to get to what they want - knowing what's wrong and getting treatment. Seen from that lens, the faster we get it out of the way the better our overall experience with healthcare would be.?

At Orange Health, we equate showing care to showing urgency. Bedside manners are great. But they would mean a lot more if they were backed by urgent action for solving patients' concerns and discomfort. Every step matters - as it adds effort and pain for those who are suffering.?

Faster is more Convenient.?

The key issue in diagnostics has always been convenience. Before branded lab chains, there were local diagnostic centers in every major market so that the patients could reach them easily. The idea of collection centers (separated from processing labs) was essentially a business model innovation for branded labs to be more conveniently available to patients near their homes and their doctor's clinics without increasing the CapEx too much. This operational innovation of collecting samples and moving them through cold chain logistics to give you reports at the same time as a local lab is the largest contributor to the proliferation of regional and national diagnostics chains.?

This is a two-decade-old business model innovation that allowed for a higher density of collection centers in a city and created more access. Labs were now nearer than ever. As useful as this has been, it's still not the most convenient solution. It is a norm even today to take half a day off to take a sick loved one to a clinic, wait there for 30 minutes to see a doctor, get a prescription for tests, drive 15 minutes to a nearby collection center, wait another 30 minutes to get pricked and then get medicines on the way back home. All this while our loved one is sick, and probably in pain or discomfort. There is no other option. All online health tech companies and home collection are available for only next-day service because they were designed for preventive health checkups, not acute testing requirements after a doctor visit.

At Orange Health, we are building to minimize prescription to testing time. Given the technology available now, it's possible to bring a paramedic to your doorstep on-demand. This allows patients to get more rest and focus on recovery. There is no question that at home, on-demand diagnostics will be 10x more convenient. ?

Faster is also more Accurate.?

It's not just about forward logistics and quick collection. It's also about how fast blood is taken back to machines to test after retrieving the sample.

Our blood deteriorates the moment it leaves our veins. While heparin vacuum tubes have helped in preventing the clotting of blood during transportation, there are several reactions in the blood that deteriorates the accuracy of blood test results the longer we take to test it. Some studies have shown that various parameters have clinically relevant variation as the time interval between sample collection and testing increases.?

It is usual practice for home collection companies (including incumbent labs) to collect as many samples as possible, then bring them to central hubs in batches to relay to laboratories for testing. On average these companies test your sample 6 - 8 hours after collection. Thankfully, their at-home service usage has been limited mostly to health packages which are not very impactful in managing patients' health. Variations in electrolytes for cardiac and chronic patients are a major health indicator to manage. Dependence on such online companies can have serious consequences. At the same time, collection centers are only marginally better because the samples are moved in batches from here as well and their time to testing is only slightly better.?

At Orange Health, we track vein-to-testing time as well. We have completely re-engineered our supply chain and lab operations to ensure that 99% of blood samples are tested on machines within 180 minutes of collection from your home. We are constantly innovating to make it even faster over time. As a result, we have demonstrated consistently high-quality results over many well-known incumbents. This is the reason why within just 12 months of operations, over 600 doctors in Bangalore trust us with their patients' health.?

In healthcare, Faster is significantly better.

In a world of instant gratification, it's telling that we can get ice cream and pizzas within an hour at home, but not healthcare. For those who fall ill, it's a norm to suffer a little more because we feel these services are too complex to make convenient for patients. But that is patently not so. So when I am asked the question 'why does it matter if you are offering speed in diagnostics?'

My response is: "In diagnostics, Faster is more convenient. Faster is more accurate. Faster is is significantly Better."

That's why our slogan at Orange Health is Real Care. Real Fast.