FACTS AND STATS

CEO of Canadian Virtual Healthcare Company Defends Charging for Services

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos sent a letter last week to his provincial and territorial counterparts raising the alarm about doctors charging for medically necessary services, and warning that his government would claw back federal health-care payments if this continues. A senior government official told CBC that companies charging patients for virtual visits with a family physician are the chief targets of the federal move.
Dr. Brett Belchetz is the CEO of Maple, a company that lets Canadians book virtual appointments, usually text based, with general practitioners for $69 a pop, or a $30 monthly subscription. It also offers services paid for by provincial health-care plans, as well as some services billable to private insurers.
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DIGITAL HEALTH

The Federal Health Minister Warns Provinces to Stop Allowing Clinics to Charge Patients for Virtual Healthcare

The federal government warned the provinces Friday that they could see their future federal funding clawed back if they continue to allow private clinics to charge patients directly for virtual healthcare. In a  recent letter Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos warned his provincial and territorial counterparts that medically necessary services are covered by the Canada Health Act, even if they are provided online or by phone.
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Virtual Care, Real Outcomes

The proof is here: a survey done by the American Medical Association (AMA) reported that 80% of physicians they surveyed believed that telehealth provided patients better access to care since using telehealth. People of all ages also find telehealth to be beneficial.
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Is Virtual Care Delivering on its Promise of Improving Access?

More than 50 million in-person visits per year could be converted to virtual or telemedicine visits if adoption were extended equally across patient segments.
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MEDICAL GADGETS

Bacteria Create Protein Nanowires for Biosensing

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a biosensor that is based on protein nanowires that are created by bacteria. The researchers genetically modified E. Coli to create protein nanowires with increased ammonia sensitivity.
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Patient-Specific Soft Robotic Heart Replicas for Treatment Planning

Researchers at MIT have developed soft robotic heart replicas that closely match the anatomy of real people. The researchers used medical images of patient hearts to construct computer models that are suitable for 3D printing. Once printed with a soft material, the patient-specific heart models can be actuated using external inflatable sleeves, in the style of blood pressure cuffs, allowing the team to match the blood flow and pressure parameters of the original heart.
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GLOBAL WATERCOOLER

WeightWatchers Going into Prescription Weight Loss Business with Telehealth Provider Acquisition

WeightWatchers' stock soared on Tuesday after the company said it is getting into the prescription drug weight loss business with the acquisition of Sequence. Sequence is a telehealth provider that offers users access to drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity under such brand names as Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity. The drugs all work by the same mechanism: They trigger the release of insulin, block sugar production in the liver and suppress appetite.
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Virtual Care Team Strategy Boosts Heart Failure Therapy Uptake

A new study describes a virtual care team strategy that improved the use of guideline-directed heart failure therapies within three Mass General Brigham hospitals.
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TRENDS

Developing an Effective Hybrid Care Strategy for Telehealth

Judd Hollander, SVP of healthcare delivery innovation at Thomas Jefferson University, explains why provider organizations need to elevate virtual care not as an enabler of strategy, but as a strategy in itself.
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AI Model Can Detect Alzheimer’s Disease with Over 90% Accuracy, New Research Finds

A new study published in PLOS ONE by a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has revealed a way to leverage artificial intelligence to detect Alzheimer's more easily. 
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News From Canada

How a Toronto-Made AI Therapist Could Bridge the Gap in Canada's Mental Healthcare System

Artificial intelligence has been used in healthcare for years, but more recently it’s increasingly being incorporated into mental healthcare. Many telehealth companies are using AI to give personalized healthcare to patients, and most use text as a main form of communication.
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The Role of Health Data in Supporting Better Patient Outcomes

A primary care physician in a practice that sees a lot of elderly patients with complex care needs and often works with a range of specialists to deliver care. This means patients go through a number of transitions in care, which can be more complicated than people may realize, as data doesn’t always flow efficiently across our healthcare system.
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Canada Health Infoway’s Digital Health InfoCast – New Horizons in Canada’s Interoperability Landscape

Canada Health Infoway recently commissioned Environics Research to generate insights on the current state of interoperability across care settings in Canada. On their Digital Health Infocast podcast they share and discuss the factors that impact interoperability in Digital Health, and what lessons can we learn to drive the agenda forward.
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At a Virtual Long-COVID Clinic, Patients Across Ontario Access Care and Find Support

Unlike in-person clinics, which typically only accept patients associated with a local doctor or healthcare system, the Providence long COVID program accepts patients from across Ontario, giving individuals in areas with few or no long COVID resources a place to turn.
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ER Physician's Project uses Donated Cellphones to Connect Vulnerable with Ongoing Medical Care

Dr. Andrea Somers created a project that provides donated prepaid cellphones to those who are homeless, struggling with mental health or substance use, or socially isolated, in hopes of getting people followup care instead of going to the ER.
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AI-Powered Tool on Surgical Unit to Improve Patient Care

In November, Unity Health Toronto introduced a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution, CHARTWatch Surgical, in partnership with Signal 1, a Canadian health AI startup. CHARTWatch Surgical uses patient data on the hospital’s existing electronic medical record – such as the diagnostic test results and patient vitals – to predict the level of support a patient will need. This insight, paired with clinical expertise, is helping the care teams communicate and make decisions.
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Families Can Track Surgery Patients with Online Tool

Horizon Health Network has launched a new online tool to help families and loved ones track the location of a patient during the surgery process. The Moncton Hospital is one of the hospitals that will use the new surgery tracking tool. It was developed in conjunction with Service New Brunswick.
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Electronic Prescribing Connects Pharmacists with Patients' Circle of Care

With emergency departments chronically suffering from lengthy wait times and nearly 1.8 million Ontarians without a family doctor — a number that’s estimated to increase to more than three million within the next two years — this is an important step to help bridge some of the gaps in healthcare today. 
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Newfoundland and Labrador Telehealth Line Advises Most Callers to Go See a Doctor

Reports from the company running Newfoundland and Labrador’s public health line show more than three-quarters of callers looking for advice about symptoms are told to seek emergency services or see a family doctor. “I called to get medical help because I had no doctor,” said a comment from May. “So it’s not much good for them to tell me to see a doctor.”
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