The University of Cincinnati Venture Lab is backing a telehealth startup focused on increasing access to healthcare for patients who lack transportation or live in rural areas.
The TeleSmart Health kit allows physicians to perform comprehensive examinations of patients virtually. The tool, which links digital medical devices to an EHR, gives the providers the ability to listen to people's hearts and lungs remotely. The company will begin testing its software this year.
"It's quite remarkable how many medical decisions are being made without a physical exam these days because of the pandemic," said Christopher Lewis, MD, TeleSmart Health's chief medical officer, in a June 16 university news release. "But our theory is that even after the pandemic, the convenience, the access, the health equity factors will make this sort of technology stick around."
The founders also said the platform could cut down on emergency room visits from nursing home residents who don't have an attending physician around.
The Venture Labs pre-accelerator program provides free startup guidance and mentoring from executives to aspiring entrepreneurs from the University of Cincinnati community.