Hillel's Tech Corner: Genetic testing done right

An Israeli company, igentify, offers a total healthcare solution that expedites patient “onboarding”; increases patient education and retention.

By HILLEL FULD
igentify (photo credit: Courtesy)
igentify
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Genetic testing. We’ve all heard about it, some of us have experienced it, but I doubt any of us has anything positive to say about the actual experience. Like most medical tests, or even most medicine in general, much of the process is still conducted as if the Internet is not a thing. While other sectors have fundamentally shifted to the digital revolution, the healthcare world has a long way to go.
When it comes to genetic counseling, whatever your reason is for getting tested, the process involves many face-to-face meetings with a doctor, many terms thrown at you that sound like a foreign language, minimal understanding on your end, and just an overall broken process.
An Israeli company, igentify, offers a total healthcare solution that expedites patient “onboarding”; increases patient education and retention; and enhances efficiency with digital consent forms, education and analyses. In other words, genetic testing and counseling processes are about to enter the 21st century.
Igentify aims to be the place where the genetic revolution and the digital revolution meet. The company is based in Haifa and now has over 35 employees.
The igentify platform works as follows: The patient goes through an onboarding process the likes of which you would expect from a modern mobile app or website, unlike the process you would expect from a healthcare provider. Part of that initial process is of course the digital consent, which saves the end user time and offers the obvious convenience of accessibility.
igentify then offers the patient a tailored digital learning experienced, personalized and dynamic results, and ultimately, bioinformatic interpretation.
The platform checks for over 600 genetic disorders and basically serves you the information in a simple-to-understand manner. The online counseling feature reduces the need for face-to-face genetic counseling by 95%.
igentify focuses on preventive healthcare, as well as all genetic testing and counseling.
As far as the benefits of the platform, the electronic consent is clear, detailed and easy to understand, which improves patient understanding and retention, and saves time and reduces overhead. The cloud-based enrollment to the platform is intuitive and has a seamless integration with patient management solutions, which in turn means better patient care. The digital learning suite engages patients with multimedia presentations, transforms abstract subjects into accessible materials, and ultimately advances precision medicine. This includes personalized videos generated by the platform automatically. Finally, the personalized dynamic results combine gene-specific content with patient data, reduces in-person genetic counseling by 95%, and translates complex information into concise content that is easy to understand.
Founded in October 2016, igentify’s team of globally renowned geneticists, highly experienced software developers, creative animators, and UX/UI designers, is redefining the protocols of traditional medicine. In January 2019, Deloitte selected igentify as one of the Israeli start-ups at the forefront of the digital R&D revolution.
The company was founded by CEO Dr. Doron Behar, and CPO Galit Delmar.
Dr. Behar holds a BSc in medical sciences (1992), MD (1997) and PhD in population genetics (2005) (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology). A former CSO and member of the founding team of Gene By Gene, he also served as senior physician at the Clalit National Cancer Control and Personalized Medicine Program
Galit has over 20 years of diverse experience in the fields of advertising, branding and marketing as account manager, operations manager and senior management member, having built and led winning teams.  She holds a BA in life science and a minor in economics.
As for igentify, the company is growing fast and has generated over $3.2 million in revenue to date, with many strategic partnerships along the way. These include the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Israel, Danieli Medical Center, Northwell Health, Family Tree DNA, AMG Lab, Kaplan Hospital, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, among others.
As the world of genetic testing continues to evolve and develop, igentify is building the platform that will advance with it. The platform will address all the needs of the end user who has grown to expect superb digital user experiences in all areas of day to day life. Igentify believes that genetic counseling should be no different.