Deal effectively expands MDLink’s offering of accredited laboratory diagnostic services across Jamaica

MDLink Limited, the largest telemedicine platform in the Caribbean providing online medical consultations for patients, has sought to expand its robust portfolio of services by acquiring Fleet Diagnostics Limited, a private medical laboratory founded in 2014. 

An innovator in healthcare technology, MDLink has been committed to advancing access to healthcare in Jamaica since 2017. As the COVID-19 pandemic reached the island’s shores in March 2020, MDLink became increasingly motivated to provide quick, convenient, and affordable testing solutions to aid the country in surveying and combating the effects of the pandemic. 

Since then, the company has become a beacon and a household name in Jamaica’s fight against COVID-19, growing a commanded and loyal patient base that trusts in MDLink’s reliability. 

MDLink’s expanded offerings over the years include a drive-thru location and a concierge service that brings their range of testing services and treatment to the patient, wherever they may be located. 

As MDLink continues to grow, they have sought to diversify, branching out into full-service diagnostics, which will serve patients who wish to get a range of screening tests administered including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, cardiac, kidney function, cancer, hepatitis and drug tests amongst others. 

Therefore, the acquisition of Fleet Diagnostics could not have come at a better time. 

Fleet Diagnostics is a fully accredited medical laboratory by the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) for the offering of a wide array of screening tests and has patient service centres strategically located throughout the island. 

Infusing technology into the diagnostic laboratory system will produce modern labs that bring first-world conveniences to Jamaica and eventually the region. MDLink’s wider testing services will be included in their digital platform. The platform will continue to be doctor-focused and patient-centred. 

This means the facilitation of online lab test bookings, receiving lab results on their personal devices as well as full access to telehealth sessions with your personal doctors, offering advice on test results and recommending next steps toward health and wellness. 

On the other hand, the doctors would have easy access to their patients’ lab results as well as being able to book lab testing for their patients from the convenience of their offices. 

With an investment made into state-of-the-art equipment paired with the merging of highly trained and professional staff, patients and doctors can look forward to accurate and reliable test results with an enhanced turnaround time facilitated by these digital enhancements. 

CEO and chief medical officer for MDLink, Dr Ché Bowen in discussing this acquisition is quoted as saying, “This acquisition was an integral step in the growth and expansion of MDLink because, as a healthcare access tool and leader in healthcare testing, we need a lab to support our diversifying list of services to assure the same great reliability and convenience that have been the pillars of our business so far. Since we’ve done so well with COVID-19 testing, we will be expanding into all other diagnostic tests such as blood tests, urine and stool tests and sexually transmitted disease screenings.” 

“Fleet Diagnostics is already doing this work on the ground with established locations serving patients and surveying hundreds of doctors for the past eight years. Additionally, Fleet Diagnostics is one of only four JANAAC accredited labs in Jamaica. This means we would automatically have our MDLink labs set up as JANAAC-approved facilities, providing the best operational procedures and services to our patients, outlined by the standards of the agency. We look forward to working with the experienced and trained professionals that have already been operating at a high standard for Fleet Diagnostics over the years. This acquisition would upgrade our COVID-19 antigen testing to become the only JANAAC accredited one on the island. Additionally, being leaders in concierge testing services for COVID-19 we seek, through this acquisition, to upgrade our facilities by providing a wider variety of lab testing to patients while continuing to offer these services wherever is most convenient to our clients and where they are most comfortable – in one of our convenient facility locations or in their homes,” Bowen noted. 

Stephen Chang, director of Fleet Diagnostics, is confident about what will come from this acquisition. 

He noted, “We believe strongly in the mission of MDLink and in the CEO, Dr Bowen. Dr Bowen’s expertise and keen business acumen has already tremendously transformed the healthcare landscape in Jamaica in a short space of time. We look forward to joining MDLink on the frontlines of this continued innovation and we see this acquisition further contributing to increasing access to healthcare and doing so in a modern, convenient and accessible way through technology. Great things are to come.” 

The acquisition would not have been possible without lawyer Samantha Moore, partner at Ramsay & Partners. 

MDLink continues to move towards creating a digital ecosystem for healthcare in Jamaica and acquiring Fleet Diagnostics is another big step closer to this goal, yielding increased access to all your healthcare needs right at your fingertips. 

Any doctors who may be interested in discussing mutually beneficial partner packages can reach out to MDLink at [email protected].