Virtual care platform Maple is partnering with laboratory testing provider, LifeLabs, to bring virtual care consultations to Maple users.
The companies are hoping the collaboration will making these testing options more convenient and accessible.
Through the partnership, Maple users will be able to receive virtual consultations with a naturopathic doctor through Rocky Mountain Analytical’s (RMA) Food Sensitivity Test (FST). Maple said it also hopes to provide access to other LifeLabs offerings, such as pharmacogenetics service (TreatGxPlus), which tests an individual’s response to different drug therapies. The companies are hoping the collaboration will making these testing options more convenient and accessible to Canadians.
“Providing accessible health care available when and where Canadians need it has always been the top priority at Maple,” said Brett Belchetz, co-founder and CEO at Maple. “By bringing together our telemedicine platform and LifeLabs’ testing technologies, we’re now able to add a whole new lens to this goal by providing access to personalized health care, tailored to each person’s unique makeup.”
The RMA FST offers a list of food sensitivities by examining hundreds of different types of food antigens through a blood test. Customers can consult with a naturopathic doctor on Maple to have the test ordered. Rocky Mountain Analytical, which administers the test, is a division of LifeLabs.
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TreatGxPlus is a type of DNA drug sensitivity testing, that evaluates certain genes to determine how individuals might react to specific medications. By knowing a patient’s pharmacogenetic results, health care providers can customize prescriptions to support personalized health care needs for patients, which could improve the effectiveness of medications, reduce adverse side effects, and provide safer treatment options.
Toronto-based Maple connects Canadians with a variety of healthcare providers through their phone, tablet or computer. Its service is designed to address the long wait times that have become commonplace when accessing healthcare. Last year, Maple raised a $4 million CAD Series A, and is a client of MedStack, a Toronto-based compliance solution for healthcare apps, which itself raised a $2.4 million oversubscribed seed round earlier this year.
“Together with Maple, our collective goal is to increase access to diagnostic testing and empower today’s busy patient to receive the safest, highest quality care and treatment options, whenever and wherever they need it,” said Jennifer Flexman, director of product and service innovation at LifeLabs.
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