Alberta Platform Provides Clarity to Health System Integration

EDMONTON, Alberta, May 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A collaboration from Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp and Health City, with funding from Western Economic Diversification Canada, successfully launched a platform to increase support for innovation companies on the path to commercialization in Canada. Health technology companies entering the Alberta market must be prepared to integrate with acute care systems, as well as primary care systems. Health system integration requires substantial knowledge of privacy and security regulations, which creates a significant barrier to many small and medium enterprises. To address these obstacles, Health City and Brightsquid created the Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH). The initiative includes a four-week curriculum that prepares companies for the regulatory requirements for health system integration and leverages Brightsquid's health technology accelerator program, HaTCH.

Brightsquid's HaTCH program enables companies to be integrated into the TELUS Health Exchange to connect directly into TELUS Health EMRs, solving one of the largest hurdles facing digital health companies. The Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH) ensures the participating companies are prepared to enter the HaTCH program, and are capable of maintaining integration long term. The first cohort of participants, which included 11 companies from western Canada, learned to identify specific risks and build regulatory systems using best practices. Because the curriculum included global security regulations, participating companies are prepared to scale to other jurisdictions following completion of the sessions, establishing the opportunity for job creation and economic growth in Alberta.

"Investing in key sectors, such as Alberta's growing health and life sciences cluster, is part of the Government of Canada's focus on creating high-value jobs that support a strong economic recovery," said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada. "Our support of programs like Pre-HaTCH will provide health technology companies in Alberta with the expertise needed to integrate their high-value products into existing healthcare information technology systems, enabling them to commercialize Canadian-made solutions that protect our health and strengthen our economy."

"We saw a number of companies entering the market that were underprepared for integration into the health system, and a program from Brightsquid that could integrate these companies, but there was a step missing to ensure these companies would successfully reach commercialization. The Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH) is this solution; it educates and prepares companies for integration, ensuring their success," said Reg Joseph, CEO at Health City. "This is a key step in ensuring companies can remain in this province, scale in this province, and ultimately contribute to the economic growth in this province."

"We were very impressed with the level of thinking across the participant companies," said Rohit Joshi, CEO, Brightsquid. "Getting this critical information in the hands and minds of such innovators is an important step in expanding the range of technology available to healthcare. We are excited to work with some of these startups through the HaTCH program to fully commercialize their vision."

On May 10, 2021, The Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH) opened applications for its second cohort of the project. Applications for the latest cohort will close on June 4.

For more information on the Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH), visit www.healthcities.ca.

About Health City

Health City is a Canadian Not-for-profit Corporation that works with clinicians, innovators, philanthropic organizations, and companies to develop new pathways of care that can drive better health outcomes and economic development in the health sector. Our focus is on transforming innovations from our health sector into solutions that have commercial application and global relevance, adopting them for impact locally and scaling them for export to global markets.

For more information, visit www.healthcities.ca. 

About Brightsquid

Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp. was founded in 2009 to connect the entire healthcare community around the patient through a single secure communication channel. Brightsquid supports privacy-compliant operations and communications in tens of thousands of healthcare organizations across North America. Brightsquid's experience supporting digital transformation in healthcare and knowledge of team-based patient care plan management help expedite adoption and the realization of the benefits of technology.

For more information, visit brightsquid.com

Media Inquiries:

Health City
Stephanie Gillis-Paulgaard
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 780-628-3101