The best outcomes can’t wait
Technology solutions to address health system challenges
By Tim Wilson
The global pandemic put the Canadian healthcare system under immense stress. This highlighted the need to address every citizen’s right to prompt and effective care that’s delivered by qualified personnel using the best medical technologies. Thankfully, Canada is seeing more examples of strategic and intelligent policy and investment to address this need, which will in turn deliver long-term value by efficiently delivering better outcomes.
One such example is Nova Scotia’s recently launched Health Innovation Hub. At the Hub, clinical staff, researchers, industry, and government will be coming together to solve the province’s most pressing healthcare challenges. Critical to the Hub’s success will be the participation of companies in the medical device sector, which will allow for accelerated clinical trials, testing, and market-ready solutions. This includes the Hub’s Network of Innovators, a program intended to turn new ideas into reality.
Ontario has taken a similar approach in its most recent budget, acknowledging that the province is not only home to a vibrant ecosystem of health technology companies, but that clinicians require the necessary solutions to make health care more
convenient and accessible.
Importantly, Ontario’s 2023 Budget commits to providing procurement opportunities for exciting new technologies. The province’s proposed Innovation Pathway, a collaboration with Supply Ontario, is central to this plan to bring the brightest ideas to life, and to transform Ontario’s health care system for the benefit of patients. Once established, the Pathway will ideally ensure that innovations are adopted across the province’s health system, thus helping to clear backlogs and
improve outcomes.
The right care, when and where you need it
Being innovative in care delivery is critical in a country like Canada, which is ethically and legally mandated to ensure that access to publicly funded health services is available to everyone, everywhere. It also represents immense opportunity, given that Canada is highly urbanized, with a robust information and telecommunications backbone, yet also has one of the lowest population densities in the world.
Intelligent perioperative care – which involves an integrated approach to care from surgery planning until full recovery – is a must. We know we can do it, because some of the technological solutions already in place are impressive in their scope and variety. These technologies directly address the backlog by making surgeries more efficient, while improving the patient experience.
One excellent example of technology’s crucial role in bringing optimal patient care comes from Toronto-headquartered TeleVU Innovation, which has a remarkable telepresence solution. This impressive technology fosters a virtual shoulder-to-shoulder experience in procedures and patient examinations while breaking down geographical limitations.
Engaging with the medical technology industry has value here, as it can help to identify solutions from both a Canadian and global best practice perspective.
TeleVU’s cloud-based system goes far beyond traditional video calls. This connected care ecosystem involves a secure, live audio-visual communication channel enhanced by AR and AI. By providing a fully interactive and immersive virtual healthcare experience, TeleVU does more than help deliver care – it can also support educational endeavors and mentoring.
The technology has been deployed successfully as part of Northwest Ontario’s regional wound care program at St. Joseph’s Care Group in Thunder Bay. The numbers speak for themselves. With TeleVU, the average wait time for community residents to receive advanced care was reduced from 11 to 1.67 days, with the majority of clients experiencing improved wound closure rates, and cost savings achieved through best-practice dressing selection. Incredibly, every three months about 45,000 km in patient travel time has been eliminated.
“Advanced wound care is essential for managing complex chronic wounds and optimizing clinical outcomes,” says Ryan De’Larami, Founder & CEO of TeleVU Innovation. “Many remote and rural communities face significant challenges in accessing specialized wound care providers. Our technology can be of great benefit to patients, their families, and the environment.”
There are many other examples in Canada besides TeleVU, all of which address the ongoing challenges related to the medical services backlog.
These include state-of-the art, outpatient hip and knee replacement surgery, including assistance by robotic devices. For these and other procedures, efficient patient throughput is assured by technologies that help to drive streamlined communication, enhance productivity, and manage post-operative pain. Impressive advances in workflow include theatre management software solutions that improve operating room utilization, and reduce non-medical cancellations. (Medtech Canada has highlighted a number of these examples at medtechinnovation.ca/medtech-solutions).
Remote patient monitoring is another effective tool, and an excellent way to reduce overcrowding and provide better access to care. Canada has the information and communication’s infrastructure to drive significant benefit here, with remote patient monitoring for chronic illnesses, such as
diabetes, increasingly common.
The future is healthy
At the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals across Canada suspended scheduled, non-urgent surgeries and procedures to create capacity. As a result, fewer surgeries and procedures were performed, and wait times – already a problem – ballooned. Canadians faced backlogs for millions of services. This also affected preventive care, cancer screening, routine immunizations, and diagnostic tests and scans.
The result was that key stakeholders on Canada’s healthcare community were forced to take a hard look at this new, harsh reality, wherein familiar challenges had transformed into full-blown crises.
The answer to this problem, as many key decision-makers now realize, was to build systems that promoted an investment in value, wherein the total benefit to the patient, and to the system at large, is calculated alongside upfront costs. To accomplish this, technologies are now increasingly assessed according to varied criteria, with procurement removed from silos, and innovation delivered to the
population at large.
Importantly, bringing innovation into the system can align with other necessary investments, including in human resources and infrastructure, to build resilience and long-term sustainability. Incremental funding to expand capacity in high-value medical interventions can preserve hospital resources, while ensuring that care teams in roles with the greatest potential impact receive the necessary funding.
Engaging with the medical technology industry has value here, as it can help to identify solutions from both a Canadian and global best practice perspective. There is a lot to be learned, including how to utilize technology to leveraging alternate care sites, and to deliver high-quality, faster care for high volume procedures, while still delivering optimal care for higher resource surgeries.
The good news? We’re on our way, and the future looks healthy.
