Preventive Health Screening for British Columbians
Screen for diabetes and high cholesterol — without a family doctor. Get your results interpreted in plain language with clear next steps.
Log in to: ScreenBC
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About This Project
ScreenBC was built for the BuildersVault Healthcare AI Hackathon, where it was selected as one of the winning projects. It demonstrates how a province-wide screening program could work — identifying patients who are overdue for routine blood work, interpreting their results using AI grounded in Canadian clinical guidelines, and guiding them to appropriate next steps — all without requiring a physician in the loop.
The Problem
That means no one is routinely screening for common, silent conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol. These diseases develop over years without symptoms, but can end in heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, and premature death.
These outcomes are often preventable.
Early detection is simple and inexpensive. Basic blood tests cost less than $10 each and are already available across the province. When caught early, these conditions can be managed with medications and lifestyle changes that dramatically reduce the risk of life-altering complications.
But without a primary care provider, these tests are often never ordered. Patients are left undiagnosed until they present with advanced disease — when the damage is already done.
The Insight
“BC already solved this problem — for cancer.”
BC Cancer Screening proactively identifies patients who are overdue for mammograms, cervical screening, and colon cancer screening. It sends them a notification. It doesn't wait for a family doctor to order the test. The program has been running for years, and it works.
Nobody has done the same thing for chronic disease identification.
ScreenBC applies the exact same model to diabetes and dyslipidemia screening. The infrastructure is already there. The clinical guidelines exist. The labs are inexpensive and accessible. The barrier is that no one has found a way to implement population-level screening for these conditions without requiring a physician to order and review each individual test.
Why This Idea
We evaluated over 30 ideas with input from multiple physicians. The healthcare system is under strain for many reasons — but one of the most tangible, actionable levers is early intervention for chronic disease. We picked ScreenBC because it was:
The most impactful
It targets a root cause of system stress — unscreened chronic disease — not just a symptom.
The most realistic
It doesn't require new infrastructure, new physician workflows, or new patient behavior. The model is already proven with BC Cancer Screening.
A genuine low-hanging fruit
The tests are cheap. The guidelines are clear. The labs already exist in every community. The registry data to identify overdue patients already exists.
Actionable today
There's a clear path from pilot to province-wide implementation. No moonshot technology required.
Why It Works
How It Works
Identify
The system uses provincial health registry data to identify patients who are overdue for preventive screening.
Notify
The patient receives an email or text: "You may be due for preventive health screening."
Enroll
The patient logs in via BC Services Card, reviews consent, and optionally fills out a brief health questionnaire.
Screen
The patient receives a lab requisition and takes it to any outpatient lab. Standard blood tests: HbA1c and lipid panel.
Interpret
Results are interpreted using AI grounded in Canadian clinical guidelines. Each result is categorized as Normal, Borderline, or Needs Attention.
Guide
The patient receives a personalized, plain-language summary: what their results mean, what they can do, and where to find care near them.
The Roadmap
A small, independent trial that can be run by individual physicians in their own practices or small communities.
- Conditions screened: Diabetes (HbA1c) and dyslipidemia (lipid panel) only
- Patients opt in and register directly on the platform
- A physician approves and signs lab requisitions
- Scale: a handful of practices or one community
- Goal: Validate the model, gather patient feedback, measure engagement
The Team
ScreenBC was built by Gustavo Garcia (product & engineering) in collaboration with Dr. Sally Carver, Family Physician, with input from physicians in British Columbia.
See it in action
Explore the full screening experience as a sample patient — from enrollment to results interpretation and next steps.