Digital Solutions Connect Clinicians with Colleagues and Patients 71 Million Times

e-Connect Impact Challenge awards announced

(Toronto) – Connecting Canadians and health care providers to each other digitally was the name of the game for the ImagineNation e-Connect Impact Challenge. During the 15-month challenge period, teams generated over 71 million digital health uses, and the top teams are being recognized with more than $500,000 in awards.

Fourty-six teams competed in the challenge, which sought to advance digital health adoption and use among Canadians and health care providers in four categories: e-Visits, e-Requests for Prescription Renewals or Refills, e-Reports of Services and e-Requests for Services. The Challenge was announced in October 2013 and concluded in March 2015. 

“Infoway hosts various challenges to encourage cost-effective, timely innovations that benefit patients and health care providers,” explained Jennifer Zelmer, Executive Vice President, Canada Health Infoway. “We applaud all Challenge participants for helping advance digital health in Canada.”

The teams with the highest percentage growth in their digital health solution use are being recognized with the Overall Awards, while those that the judging panel ranked as having the best  reported quality improvements and lessons learned for their digital health solution are receiving the Quality Impact Report Awards.

Overall Awards

  • e-Reports of Services: Enables regulated clinicians to electronically and securely provide reports about the services a patient received to other authorized care providers.
    • First Place (tie) – Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Toronto, ON)
    • First Place (tie) – Interior Health Authority (Kelowna, BC)
    • Third Place – Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant eHealth Office (Hamilton/Niagara/Haldimand/Brant region, ON)
  • e-Requests for Services:Allows authorized health care providers to securely send electronic requests from one health care provider to another to request health care services for their patient.
    • First place – Oshawa Clinic (Oshawa, ON) 
    • Second place (tie) – Community MD (Brampton, ON)
    • Second place (tie) – The Champlain BASE e-Consult Service (Building Access to Specialists through eConsultation) eConsult Service (Ottawa, ON)
  • e-Requests for Prescription Renewals or Refills: Allows Canadians to digitally and securely request prescription renewals or refills from their health care provider.
    • First place – Community MD (Brampton, ON)
  • e-Visits: Provides Canadians access to a private, secure and digital two-way interaction with their health care provider.
    • First Place – Equinoxe LifeCare's Virtual Clinic (Montreal, QC)
    • Second Place – Community MD (Brampton, ON)

Quality Impact Report Awards

  • Braun Perio (Vaughan, ON)
  • CognisantMD (Toronto, ON)
  • Community MD (Brampton, ON)
  • Consult Conduit (Toronto, ON)
  • MiDASH (Brampton, ON)
  • Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Whitby, ON)

Infoway introduces new Challenges periodically; visit www.imaginenationchallenge.ca for more information, or subscribe to Interchange newsletter for updates.

About the ImagineNation Challenge Series
The ImagineNation Challenges seek to inspire, provoke, and promote innovation in health and health care and foster a community of innovators in Canada. While each ImagineNation Challenge is different, they all share the same ultimate goal: to improve the quality of care and the patient experience. Launched in 2011, the ImagineNation Challenges have ranged from generating ideas to supporting adoption and use to measuring the impact of digital health in Canada.

Infoway works with national organizations to help shape the Challenges through expert advice, encouraging participation and promoting the results. These organizations include:

About Canada Health Infoway

Infoway helps to improve the health of Canadians by working with partners to accelerate the development, adoption and effective use of digital health across Canada. Through our investments, we help deliver better quality and access to care and more efficient delivery of health services for patients and clinicians. Infoway is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government.

For more information:

Haley Armstrong
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Canada Health Infoway
519-939-9549
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