College health insurer Wellfleet teams up with binx health to keep students safe and campuses open in the fight against COVID-19

Wellfleet taps binx for convenient, in-dorm sample collection and bespoke technology solutions to help arrest virus spread

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts, Oct. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellfleet Insurance has teamed up with binx health to offer college clients access to easy at-home/in-dorm sample collection for COVID-19 testing using binx's enterprise solutions for population health screening.

'binx boxes' are showing up in dorm rooms of thousands of students on Wellfleet's college client campuses, offering school officials a quick, easy way to test a campus population, with oversight and test ordering by onsite university clinicians.

The model amplifies the power and reach of university administration in their efforts to test, track and trace the COVID-19 infection status among student, faculty, staff, and vendors. Students "activate" binx boxes online, complete sample collection in their dorms or at home, then drop off completed kits at centralized locations for lab processing. Results are rapid, often under 24 hours from sample receipt.

Wellfleet, one of the nation's leading student health insurance carriers, worked with binx on behalf of client colleges and universities to deliver a first-of-kind platform that makes population testing a reality for the nation's college campuses.

binx's testing platform offers a unique, modular approach enabling tailored rollout and customized deployment based on university population needs. Serving as a "digital hub," binx enables seamless linking of patients to university administration via clinician ordering tools, global logistics, at-home/in-dorm sample collection, viral trend analysis and reporting, rapid lab testing, contact tracing, and live customer service and support—all offered at an affordable, per-test fee by university.

"As a health plan built exclusively for the student population, we know the unique challenges our client college administrators face," said Drew DiGiorgio, Wellfleet's President & CEO. "As clients face additional expenses with testing, we saw the need to help them find a fast, efficient, accurate, and cost-effective option."

binx's deployment in COVID-19 was adapted from its innovative platform for sexually-transmitted infections, which also serves the college health community with similar tools.

"The best healthcare solutions are convenient, motivate patients to act, and provide valuable insights to those on the frontlines of care," said Jeff Luber, binx President and CEO. "To achieve those objectives, schools need tailored, technology-driven testing solutions that reach students and faculty where they live and work to keep in-person learning a reality."    

In addition to introducing clients to tailored COVID-19 testing solutions, Wellfleet has also adapted policies to help members, including helping to ensure student members aren't saddled with out-of-pocket costs related to COVID-19, and enhanced coverage for telemedicine visits.

About Wellfleet
Wellfleet Insurance is a Berkshire Hathaway company focused on delivering customer-centric insurance solutions through flexible product offerings and quality service. With an A++ financial strength rating from A.M. Best, Wellfleet's goal is to protect people against risk throughout every stage of life — from grade school to college, the workplace, and beyond.

Headquartered in Springfield, Mass., Wellfleet was founded in 1993 and is one of the leading providers of health and accident insurance products to the higher education market. Additionally, Wellfleet's Workplace division delivers high-quality, customizable benefit solutions through a suite of voluntary products, including Accident, Critical Illness and Short-Term Disability Income insurance. For more information, visit www.wellfleetinsurance.com

Wellfleet is the marketing name used to refer to the insurance and administrative operations of Wellfleet Insurance Company, Wellfleet New York Insurance Company, and Wellfleet Group, LLC. All insurance products are administered or managed by Wellfleet Group, LLC. Product availability is based upon business and/or regulatory approval and may differ among companies.

About binx

binx health brings rapid, accurate and convenient infectious disease testing, including COVID-19, to people where they live, work and shop. We work with large corporate partners and institutions to keep populations healthy and businesses and schools open. Our solutions broaden access to care for millions. Our point-of-care io platform puts central-lab quality testing solutions in the hands of clinicians everywhere, including the rapidly expanding ecosystem of retail health. Our suite of medically guideline-driven, at-home testing solutions bring high quality testing and population health tools and digital integration capability to large corporate partners and those unable to visit a clinic location. Our FDA cleared io platform is the first ever point-of-care tool for the detection of chlamydia and gonorrhea that provides central lab performance results  in about thirty minutes. Our platform is highly flexible, easy-to-use AND RAPID, offering molecular point-of-care answers at central-lab quality performance and for the first time ENABLING SINGLE VISIT TEST AND TREATMENT. We are currently expanding the platform COVID-19 testing combining our proprietary electrochemical detection with CRISPR methods. We are building solutions designed for the future of healthcare that lies at the nexus of testing convenience, rigorous science, and strong consumer relationships.  

Contacts:
Wellfleet: Jennifer Picard
413-452-5360
jpicard@wellfleetinsurance.com

Binx: Cassie Arnold
KMA & Company 
408-621-0700
cassie@KMAandCo.com