Molecular diagnostics--scanning DNA for genes associated with disease--is the most accurate method of early disease detection, but usually requires large, expensive laboratory facilities and trained experts, slowing results. Mammoth’s DETECTR tool was built to bypass many of those obstacles to rapid testing, and in January, the company reconfigured DETECTR to make the first CRISPR-based test for Covid-19. The test is a low-cost option that produces highly accurate results in just 30 minutes--instead of the 24-hour minimum required by many other tests.

Nonin--short for noninvasive--invented fingertip pulse oximeters nearly 25 years ago. Those devices, which measure how well a person is absorbing oxygen, have been vital in the fight against Covid-19. Demand skyrocketed this year, and Nonin worked through a supply chain shortage to ramp up production, donating many of its devices to underserved communities in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The company also received FDA clearance for another device, the first-ever handheld wireless device capable of reading multiple vital signs.

Carbon Health aims to make world-class health care affordable to all, especially those in areas with limited access to health care centers and services. As one of the first providers to identify signs of Covid-19, Carbon equipped its mobile, pop-up, and permanent clinics to conduct Covid-19 testing and administer treatment. It launched Covid Ready, a comprehensive workplace virus-mitigation program for corporations, startups, professional sports teams, entertainment production, schools, and more, as well as Covid Positive Care, an at-home care program for Covid patients to track their condition and manage symptoms. Having facilitated more than 400,000 Covid tests, Carbon spent this year tripling employee headcount and expanding its virtual healthcare offerings to 16 states. The company also built a database of testing centers that's now used by Apple Maps and Google Maps.

From the onset of the pandemic, Capsule has partnered with local communities and governments to ensure that the elderly, immunocompromised, and other vulnerable populations are safe and healthy, and that they have uninterrupted access to critical medications. It also collaborated with Oscar Health and men’s wellness startup Hims to beef up its health care experience as it expanded into five new states. As health care systems digitized overnight, the company's seamless digital platform enabled more consumers to fill prescriptions that may have otherwise gone unused.

This company's telehealth app was already offering text-based primary health care when demand surged because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 98point6 spent this year expanding rapidly, tripling the number of physicians participating in its network, and adding commercial partnerships with giants like Boeing, Chipotle, Circle K, and KinderCare to provide text-based primary care to millions of employees and dependents during a time of heightened need. Chief medical officer Brad Younggren is a doctor at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, Washington, the first U.S. hospital to identify a Covid-19 outbreak.