For those in the tech and innovation community, it might sound obvious to say that digital health represents a massive opportunity. But the truth is, a “digital first” approach to care and the wide scale adoption of healthtech services was far from mainstream before the COVID-19 pandemic threw it into the spotlight.
Suddenly the world has been forced to turn to digital as a primary means of communication. Physicians are now scrambling to test multiple platforms as they move to rapidly take their practices online, facing steep learning curves and a confusing array of tools to choose from.
Likewise patients, who up until a few weeks ago had only ever visited with their healthcare providers in person, are also adjusting. We’ve all just taken a massive leap forward on the digital health adoption curve.
While the world grapples with COVID, should privacy and security be temporarily relaxed in order to allow the use of consumer-grade communication tools for healthcare?
With personal health records fetching far more on the black market than credit card information, this is a far and dangerous cry from where we should be headed.
And despite the fact that privacy offices might be slower to respond to escalations due to shutdowns, the regulations surrounding HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA and GDPR remain in force.
Thankfully, many technologies already exist to support the changing needs of patients, physicians, and systems in a compliant manner. MedStack’s platform is powering several of them by guaranteeing the highest level of privacy and security. Together we are leading the fight against COVID and paving the way for the future of digital health.
Telemedicine
- Maple, Canada’s largest telemedicine provider, is offering a free coronavirus screening program to anyone in Ontario with a valid health card.
- MediSeen is built for at-home or online care practitioners and is currently offering its software for free to all physicians.
Mental Health
- Inkblot Therapy is offering free weekly guided meditation sessions to help manage stress and anxiety.
- Mind Relief is a personalized mental health care service and is waiving the cost of its digital sessions.
- OOTify is supporting mental health in the US by offering a 60-day free trial of its platform to those in hard hit areas such as New York.
Caregiver Services
- Resili is supporting the needs of caregivers during COVID-19 with its unique application built to enhance the ability of those caring for others.
- Trualta, an e-learning platform that helps to deliver in-home care, is working to support its partners across the US and Canada to engage caregivers remotely and support them from a distance.
Continuity of Care
- Keriton, an award-winning NICU feeding management system, is offering 6 months of access to its HIPAA-compliant patient communication tools to help families stay connected to care teams while sheltering in place.
- Cyno is a newly launched platform on Canada’s East Coast, offering secure virtual physiotherapy services.
- GoGet.Fit is helping individuals maintain a healthy lifestyle by connecting them to healthcare practitioners, exercise professionals and educators.
Frontline Support
- Arya EHR has partnered with ICU and Emergency departments in Greater Vancouver as their medical records and virtual clinic backbone to support the tracking and care of patients.
- TrekIT is offering its clinical workflow tool free of charge to enable seamless team-based collaboration and care delivery across multiple settings.
- Careteam is a BC-based virtual care collaboration and communication platform that enables care planning and patient engagement across all health conditions and workflows.
Teledentistry
- Connect2D is a new, soon-to-be-launched virtual dental care platform, connecting patients to quality dentists in minutes for video consultations, assessments and prescriptions.
