LivePerson, a global leader in conversational AI, in partnership with Innova Medical Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of rapid antigen test kits and leader in COVID-19 testing solutions globally, today announced the launch of BELLA Health with Innova, a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 rapid testing experience with AI-guided instructions to ensure accuracy.
This new experience is being evaluated in the first-ever, large-scale at-home rapid testing study in the United States, led by Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Innova’s test, which has been authorized for use in the U.K. and the EU, is currently being used as a vital part of Operation Moonshot, the U.K. government’s ambitious mass testing protocol to safely reopen schools and the economy. Innova is also conducting clinical evaluations in an effort to gain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States.
While the clinical study with Citi focuses on evaluating use of the self-administered rapid antigen COVID-19 tests through the platform, BELLA Health plans to ultimately expand its platform to provide digital support for at-home testing for a variety of healthcare screenings from a selection of different diagnostic testing makers.
“Testing as Americans know it today simply isn’t convenient, affordable, or even accessible. Through the power of conversational AI, BELLA Health aims to become the low-cost, effective solution our communities need to enable at-home testing,” said Rob LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson. “BELLA Health is designed to minimize human error and support users during home testing, and the study with Citi is intended to show it can be used effectively for COVID-19 testing at scale.”
Innova’s Rapid Antigen COVID-19 test used in this study provides results in 20 minutes or less. By combining the test with BELLA Health’s AI-guided digital experience, the study with Citi is intended to show that users are able to:
Interact with a virtual assistant to walk through the testing process step-by-step
Reduce common self-testing errors to support proper testing procedures
Increase confidence in test results and next steps
Generate a health pass used to allow physical access to workplaces
LivePerson and Innova are uniquely suited to meet the strong consumer demand for at-home rapid COVID-19 testing. BELLA Health’s compassionate conversational experience is fully built on LivePerson’s leading Conversational AI technology, which is also helping simplify vaccine appointment scheduling for two U.S. states. Innova Medical Group currently produces 15 million highly accurate and cost-effective rapid antigen tests per day for global use. With FDA authorization, BELLA Health with Innova could be applied to the needs of any business, academic institution, or other organization in the U.S. The app will also enable users to connect with BELLA Health community experts for support, questions, or concerns.
“As we are learning through the study with Citi, by helping organizations test frequently and effectively, BELLA Health with Innova is poised to help them restore operations while taking steps to protect their members and employees,” said Daniel Elliott, president and CEO of Innova Medical Group. “Combining the exponential reach of LivePerson’s AI with Innova’s ability to produce millions of tests at a fraction of the price of existing solutions could enable widespread rapid testing to become a part of American life.”
Citi, the leading global bank, is participating in the study to evaluate BELLA Health with Innova’s ability to provide at-home testing for their employees working onsite. To launch the testing program, Citi is inviting employees in their bank branches and trading floors to opt in to the study. Employees test themselves at home three times per week, submit answers to a health screening daily, and receive digital health passes to come into their work location based on their test results.
“The science is clear: we need widespread, frequent, rapid testing in order to complement the vaccines and protect us against the evolving COVID-19 variants,” said Dr. Mina, the principal investigator of the study, which is being conducted through Dr. Mina’s research laboratory and the Immune Observatory, Inc., a 501(c)(3) dedicated to improving detection and mitigation of epidemic and pandemic viruses across the globe. “Rapid antigen tests are uniquely positioned to detect contagious levels of virus and provide COVID-19 results in a time frame that allow us to safely reopen the economy while keeping community transmission low.”
Source: Company Press Release
