The Partnership Behind TestUtah.com
As of today, TestUtah.com has conducted more than 86,000 assessments and administered over 11,200 tests, helping to place Utah among the top three states in the country for testing per capita. General Jeff Burton, interim executive director of the Utah Department of Health, said, “The state of Utah is second to none, and part of the reason is because we have innovative, amazing entrepreneurs in this state that step up and do amazing things, things that they don’t have to do, and I think TestUtah.com is a clear example of that. We would not be number three in the nation without TestUtah.com…it has been crucial.”
Dr. Angela Dunn, state epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health, added in a recent press conference, “TestUtah.com has been up and running for a few weeks and any opportunity for people to have increased access to testing is a good thing because it allows public health to more readily identify positive cases. Public health does all of the contact tracing, case investigation, and active monitoring from all positive tests. Increased access to testing is a key to stopping this outbreak and TestUtah.com is a part of that.”
In a unique public-private partnership, Silicon Slopes and its member tech companies have been helping the state respond quickly to crush the curve and control the spread of the virus. From helping source critical supplies like personal protection equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 tests, to supplying technology and volunteer support, the response has been characteristic of how Utahns care for each other and solve problems.
Case in point: on Thursday, March 12, an email hit the inboxes of more than forty business and community leaders in Utah from DSCO founder and Chairman Jeremy Hanks. The subject line read: “I’m offering a ‘Chicken Little’ billboard if I’m wrong” and noted that the impending pandemic was probably bigger than anyone yet realized and we needed to pull together as a state. Within hours, more than 100 Silicon Slopes CEOs were on a phone call with state and local officials to discuss Utah’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the days following that email, Silicon Slopes and its partner companies launched the COVID-19 Utah Community Response Fund, TestUtah.com, and SlopesServes.com.
Over the next six weeks, Silicon Slopes partnered with state leaders and private companies to not only ramp up COVID-19 testing in Utah but also, through the connections and effort of Domo’s Josh James, bring over eight million pieces of PPE into the state. Said Utah Governor Gary Herbert, “These entrepreneurs have stepped forward and said, ‘We can help.’ This is really one of the first of its kind, a public-private partnership.”
While this started as a 100% volunteer effort, it quickly became clear that it was turning into something bigger and the state approached the companies involved to formalize the partnership by extending commercial terms. This resulted in contracts, or expansion of existing business relationships, for several of the Utah companies involved including Nomi Health, Qualtrics, and Domo to allow them to continue to support and provide the necessary services to keep this COVID-19 test expansion moving.
TestUtah.com is innovating and growing every day. Much of the staffing has been provided on a volunteer basis by partners of this initiative. Some staffing, and all testing and equipment, is being funded by the state of Utah. At scale, the cost to the state is approximately $50 per test (which includes PPE, labor, testing kits, etc.) This is significantly less than other test providers around the country. The testing is free to all Utahns and no insurance information is collected during the assessment. All data received through the assessment is owned and controlled entirely by the state of Utah and is subject to its privacy policy.
Said Mark Newman, CEO of Nomi Health, “The beauty of Test Utah is that for the first time in healthcare, scale matters. The more tests we do, the lower unit-cost of a test. The lower the unit-cost of a test, the more support we can get from state and private funds and the more testing is available for anyone.”
Josh James, CEO of Domo, said, “Every company involved went into the TestUtah.com initiative with the goal of helping save lives. This is a very human crisis where speed and operational agility can dramatically impact outcomes. We care about this state. It’s in our DNA to find solutions.”
Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics, added, “The conversation the entire time has been about one thing — how do we help the residents of the state of Utah stay safe and healthy. One of the most important ways to do that is to increase testing capacity and make it easier to find a testing location. I believe TestUtah.com will be viewed as one of the most important public-private partnerships we’ve ever had because the public and private sectors came together so quickly and effectively to help combat a major public health issue. And truthfully, we’re just getting started. The ripple effects of this pandemic will continue to roll forward and it’s essential that we get ahead of it. In Utah, I’m confident we can do that.”
So what does it mean for the companies involved?
For Domo, all of the volunteer help Domo did initially included setting up the public relations plan, building the Test Utah website, and managing the #crushthecurve campaign and the #testutahchallenge. When it was clear that the state needed a command center to gather all the data from multiple COVID-19 response initiatives, Domo stepped in and said this is what we do every day for large companies and other governments, and we can do this for the state, too. Domo has the teams of people to support this, and a contract with the state was put in place.
Domo’s contract with the state is $1.5 million for one year and services of $500,000. It includes three custom applications and the COVID-19 Crisis Command Center, as well as unlimited data, unlimited users, and Domo Everywhere, a separate product offering that will allow the state to rapidly share live data from its command center to keep key stakeholders in the know in real-time. The three apps include a governor’s app, a hospital bed utilization app, and a PPE inventory management app, to ensure key stakeholders always have up-to-date information at their fingertips, empowering them to make critical decisions anytime, anywhere. Domo’s team worked around the clock to get the first phase of this solution up and running in 72 hours. It is a robust, data-driven solution that integrates data from multiple sources and delivers it into a single view to inform operational and public health decisions and actions. Through the COVID-19 Crisis Command Center, critical data such as testing capacity, processing times, infections, transmission and recovery data, current hot spots for active cases, and entry tracking into the region are all integrated into one view and available on any device, to help all stakeholders understand, collaborate, and take action with more precision on key findings
Qualtrics’ contract with the state is $1.245 million for one year and services of $555,000. The contract includes a phased approach to combating the virus and its impacts. The first iteration is use of Qualtrics to run the online, statewide assessment found at TestUtah.com which includes unlimited responses and unlimited users. As things progressed over the past few weeks, it became clear that what started out as a free, one-time assessment was turning into an all hands on deck project. As the state recognized the key role Qualtrics would play in Utah’s ongoing solution to COVID-19 and getting the state back on track, the state came back and said that they would like to commercially engage. At that point, Qualtrics cycled its teams and built full integrations into the state’s databases to seamlessly service the entire state, including scheduling tests and test notifications — sent to the state and participants — based on results. The state intends to continue leveraging Qualtrics to assess areas of need and impact with respect to COVID-19 economic relief, economic development, and additional government and citizen use cases over the course of the next twelve months of the contract.
“This has now become one of the largest health assessments currently run in the United States and it’s only going to get bigger,” said Ryan Smith. “We applaud the state for working with the private sector early on as we are just now seeing other states start from zero and engage on public and private sector projects. Utah started early while others are having to play catch up. This effort has saved lives and flattened the curve, and Utah is setting the bar for other states.”
Nomi Health’s contract with the state is $600,000 monthly for each testing tent (inclusive of PPE, labor, testing kits, etc). After showing a path to a statewide digital workflow and an incredibly low cost per test, the state decided to provide funds for these efforts. Nomi is the contracting vehicle for the state to ensure every vendor is paid and everything is buttoned up from tents to tests to tech. “We’ve moved fast, come in under budget and will be bringing even more savings back to the state,” said Nomi Health CEO Mark Newman.
In addition, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Silicon Slopes, has dedicated resources and staff to this cause and receives no money in return. The organization has hosted multiple public service town halls each week with guests spanning state and local elected leaders, health professionals, and business executives. Silicon Slopes has run point on the communications and coordination between all the companies and community stakeholders and will continue to serve as the coordinating body for this partnership, working with Xant Chairman and founder, Dave Elkington.
“It has been amazing to see the selfless dedication of so many as people have jumped in to help. COVID-19 has impacted everyone and Utah is the model of how to come together to do something fast, effective, and in a unified way,” said Elkington. “I have never been more proud to be a Utahn than in the past several weeks as we at Silicon Slopes have joined forces with so many great leaders from both the public and private sector and helped to create a solution to one of the biggest issues any of us have seen in our lifetimes.”
Because of the rapid success of TestUtah.com, two other states, Iowa and Nebraska, have replicated the model and launched TestIowa.com and TestNebraska.com. More will surely follow as the nation looks to Utah as a model. TestUtah.com will continue to help the state combat COVID-19 and provide access to free testing for as many Utahns as possible. Said Senator Mitt Romney, “Utah is in the top three states in the nation in terms of testing per person…it’s a great testament to the folks at Silicon Slopes that have made that successful and of course our state leadership.”
Additional Quotes
Senator Mike Lee:
“I want to commend Silicon Slopes and all of those who are involved in it…This is a great example of businesses and individuals and families coming together in a way that no government ever could.” Source 3/20/20
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox:
“You guys have done in a two-week period what would normally take upwards of a year to accomplish….I have told people to please be patient, there are going to be bumps in a road. There will probably be bumps with the survey we’re doing. There will be bumps with the testing. We’re working through this together but we’re doing it because of you guys and we’re just so proud of your great work, so thank you.” Source 4/2/20
“I want to thank you guys because we have some holes in our state and this week you filled three of those holes: out in the Uintah basin in Vernal and Roosevelt and down in St. George. Those are three areas where we desperately needed more testing capacity. And of course you all stepped up, got it done, and those sites are online now. It’s a testament to hard work and innovation and collaboration.” Source 4/20/20
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams
“No one innovates better than people in Utah, and no innovates better in Utah than Silicon Slopes. Your leadership has been so instrumental in actually trying to solve this problem.
“You see the public sector — government, state, local — you see business people, you see entrepreneurs. What a great spirit of America, spirit of Utah that you represent here.” Source 4/2/20
Kristen Cox, Executive Director, Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget
“The TestUtah.com partnership has just been remarkable….it is starting from a very strong foundation, from the actions the Governor and Lieutenant Governor took proactively weeks ago. This has put us in a place where we can slow enough of the spread to ramp all of these other things up that are necessary to get ahead of this.
“We believe, under the Governor’s direction, to do all we can to protect both public health and get the economy back on track as soon as we can….We want to lead out in the country so we can help other states become successful as well.” Source 4/2/20
Dr. Michael Good, CEO, University of Utah Health
“We’re really happy to be working with you and TestUtah.com — I know as we speak today the teams are trying to link our testing sites up with the Test Utah platform. The ability to connect with tens of thousands and soon to be hundreds of thousands of Utahns and help them get to testing centers is a key strategy not just in the rear-view mirror but really importantly in the front-view mirror of where we’re headed.” Source 4/20/20
