Mumbai based Lifespan Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Clinic has come up with first of its kind Lifespan Express, a kiosk installed at local chemist shops and clinics. This helps people get their HbA1C tested with just one finger prick. HbA1C is the average blood sugar reading of past 8 to 12 weeks.

Regular monitoring of blood sugar is crucial for controlling diabetes effectively but most of the people are deprived of it because of time, cost and availability of the medical care.

Till date, Lifespan Express Clinics has installed 8 such kiosks in Mumbai with 2 in Dadar, 1 in Mahim, 1 in Lower Parel and 4 in Goregaon. Other Express Clinics installed in India are 9 in Delhi and 3 in Hyderabad. Lifespan Clinics offers state-of-the-art Medicare for the treatment and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes across the country.

The chemist/clinician is trained by Lifespan to assist the patients to take the test. This test takes only 6 minutes and does not require fasting so it can be done anytime. This test is done using capillary blood so only finger prick is required. The test is accurate and comparable with laboratory test and results are given instantly.

This idea and infrastructure is the first of its kind by a clinic like Lifespan. Says Ashok Jain, MD, Lifespan Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Clinic, “By starting Express Clinics, we want to expand our reach to people who don’t have the time or resources to get expert medical attention. This way, not only will patients receive their reports within minutes instead of days as the usual reports take.”

As such, Lifespan wants to open another 10,000 clinics by end of next year, all over India. Talking about the future plans of the initiative, he informs that we plan to expand in Delhi and Meerut as well as more places in Northern India. A tie-up with other hospital pharmacies are also on the cards.

The technology used in Lifespan Express is IGHA (Instant Glycosylated Haemoglobin Analysis) test in which your glycosylated haemoglobin is tested to monitor the long-term control of diabetes mellitus. The level of glycosylated haemoglobin (Haemoglobin molecules with glucose attached to them) reflects the average blood glucose level over the past 8 to 12 weeks. It can be used to identify pre-diabetes instantly.

The first installer of Lifespan Express kiosk Amit Hemrajani from Mumbai says, “In one week we do six tests. I was delighted to find that there is this type of instant test. Also realised the importance of HbA1c against the regular random or fasting blood sugar test. The Lifespan Representative explains the uniqueness of the test very well and also demonstrates the test procedure which is easy to follow.”

Even if you check your blood sugar daily, the levels can fluctuate based upon what you eat, drink, exercise and can keep you always guessing. Whereas HbA1C gives you the average of last 3 months’ blood sugar so that the patient knows how much blood sugar is stored in his/her body. This gives the exact picture of blood sugar control and one can make lifestyle modifications accordingly to manage diabetes, he added.

"Being a pioneer and thought leader in diabetes management and cardiometabolic care, Lifespan plans to come up with breakthrough innovations to make specialist diabetes care easy, affordable and within the reach of people," Jain added.