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Angelica Lawson was working in Audiology when she came up with two game-changers for the screening and prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
“I was seeing more and more patients with permanent severe hearing loss due to late and misdiagnosed diabetes; it got to a point where too many people were losing their quality of life - which made me question what’s going on,” says Lawson who heads Ceratec Health which is bringing a new AI-driven diabetes screening tool to market.
“Interviews with healthcare professionals across New Zealand showed barriers ranging from access to screening to a lack of those screening resources, high appointment costs, language barriers, low health literacy, and challenges in taking time off work.”
“These barriers are intensified by overburdened healthcare systems, where limited patient time, lack of diabetes-specific training, and inadequate screening practices hinder effective diabetes screening and management.”
It is obvious when she points out her second gamechanger: these barriers and complications affect our workforce. “One in ten adults are diabetic, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, and predominantly work in high risk industries. This is leading to a 315 percent increased risk of accidents and injuries on top of large productivity delays, ultimately destroying the health and efficiency of our frontline.”
Lawson says when you put the barriers and the workplace together, it makes sense to base screening around the workforce – which is currently not done efficiently.
Ceratec Health’s world-leading product, BeteCheck, started as a hypothetical business case, which later developed into a start-up when Lawson was constantly being told that it can save lives all across the world. “When someone looks you in the eyes and tells you that your technology could’ve saved their 19 year old patient from dying, you feel a moral obligation to make a change.”
Now, BeteCheck is an AI-powered smartphone app that overcomes traditional barriers while significantly reducing costs, making high-quality healthcare a reality for every workplace. BeteCheck leverages AI to triage employees at high to active risk of diabetes, providing them with personalised diagnoses and management. This is paired with an anonymous dashboard that allows health and safety managers to identify and prevent diabetes accidents, injuries, and productivity delays early. Ceratec Health sees this as closing the loop between early detection and accident prevention.
“The employer can roll out BeteCheck in just minutes to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare to employees anytime, anywhere. By leveraging AI and telehealth services, BeteCheck overcomes traditional barriers while significantly reducing costs, making high-quality care a reality for every workplace,” says Lawson. “We remove the key barriers in diabetes screening while providing cost and productivity benefits to the employer.”
How much of an impact might BeteCheck make?
Ceratec Health is on a mission to help 570 million people identify and prevent diabetes before it’s too late. “We ran a national beta trial with a 260-employee construction firm in New Zealand where BeteCheck uncovered critical health and safety insights that significantly affected their risk management strategies.”
“We found that 44 per cent of staff were at high to active risk of diabetes, with no access to proactive care. The company lost $1.4 million through productivity losses caused by unmanaged diabetes risks. There were 39 incidents ranging from mild to fatal accidents and injuries which could cost the firm $175,000 in the next 12 months. Their total annual loss from accidents, injuries, sick leave, and productivity losses, excluding indirect costs, is $1.6 million dollars.”
And the next steps?
Ceratec Health is aiming to roll out BeteCheck in March 2025 with the goal of moving into the Australian and US markets. The company also plans to look at how it can improve equity for Māori, Pasifika and Asian populations whom Lawson says are often misdiagnosed.
Worldwide, there are more than 570 million people who live with undiagnosed pre-diabetes and diabetes. The disease can lead to severe complications including permanent hearing and vision loss, kidney disease, heart disease, Alzheimer's, erectile dysfunction, amputations, and death.
DiabetesNZ says 324,000 New Zealanders have diabetes; 100,000 are predicted to be pre-diabetic or are at risk and 45 people develop diabetes every day. Type 2 diabetes is projected to increase by 70-90 per cent in the next 20 years, which will cost us $3.5 billion each year if we don’t change our practices.
