Teal Health, creators of the first and most accurate FDA-authorized self-collection device for at-home cervical cancer screening, today announced a pilot study with UC Davis Health to evaluate how at-home HPV self-collection integrates directly within a health system setting and reaches women who are due or overdue for care.
Understanding the Impact of Teal Health on Preventive Care
The study, funded through Teal Health’s NIH SBIR grant, represents an important step toward enabling health systems to offer at-home cervical cancer screening at scale. The program assesses how Teal Health’s at-home HPV self-collection pathway can help close preventive care gaps, improve screening completion, and reduce burden on clinics and care teams, while establishing a repeatable model for broader health system adoption.
Through the pilot, women ages 30–65 who are due or overdue for cervical cancer screening will receive outreach through MyChart, email, text message, or their care teams, directing them to Teal’s at-home screening pathway. Patients who participate will complete an eligibility screening before receiving a kit mailed directly to their homes. Completed kits will be returned by mail and processed through the UC Davis in-house laboratory, with results integrated directly into the health system’s electronic health record.
“This is an important milestone in making at-home cervical cancer screening more accessible through the health systems women already trust,” said Kara Egan, CEO and Co-Founder of Teal Health. “UC Davis Health was looking for a partner that matched their in-clinic accuracy, delivering results that providers and patients could trust. By embedding Teal’s FDA-authorized Teal Wand and telehealth platform into existing health system workflows, we’re working toward a future where preventative care is accurate, easier to access, and easier for health systems to deliver at scale.”
A core focus of the pilot is understanding how at-home screening works within real-world clinical operations. Teal Health and UC Davis Health have integrated ordering, lab processing, and results reporting through Epic and HL7 workflows, helping reduce manual work and laying the foundation for scalable implementation across additional health systems.
“The future of preventive care lies in delivering evidence-based services in ways that are more accessible, equitable, innovative, and responsive to patients’ lives,” said Heather Leisy, medical director of Population Health Quality at UC Davis Health. “By expanding screening options we can help more individuals receive the screenings that prevent disease and improve long-term health.”
At the conclusion of the pilot, researchers will assess how the at-home screening pathway compares with standard in-clinic cervical cancer screening approaches by evaluating screening completion rates, patient engagement, operational feasibility, and the program’s ability to reach women overdue for care.
“This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to explore how at-home screening can expand access to preventive care and offer a more convenient, accessible, and patient-centered option for staying up to date on recommended screenings,” said Julie Dang, assistant director for Community Outreach and Engagement at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and a researcher who will be leading the study.
The pilot marks continued momentum in Teal Health’s broader strategy to partner with health systems, academic medical centers, employers, and public health organizations to expand access to cervical cancer screening nationwide. By demonstrating how at-home screening can integrate into existing clinical infrastructure, Teal Health is helping build the future of preventive care delivery.
