Over 75 health innovation community stakeholders gathered on December 11 for the final installment of the 2019 Health City Breakfast Series. The event featured Dr. Kendall Ho, who provided an overview on Home Health Monitoring (HHM) and presented his work completed over the past few years for patients diagnosed with heart failure. Additional presenters included Jackie Nelson from Norquest College, Sean DeWitt from Alberta Innovates, and Kathryn York from the Canadian College of Health Leaders.

Dr. Ho’s presentation provided notable insights, including the following statistics: 64% of patients say they use a digital device to manage their health, and 71% think it would be helpful for their doctors to have access to this information as part of their medical history. As Dr. Ho reported, people found the process of self-reporting was very useful for motivating behavior change. When it came to Home Health Monitoring for patients with heart failure, Dr. Ho noted that when health providers approached the health monitoring plans as part of a joint effort with the patients, rather than taking a supervisory role, it yielded better results.

Jackie Nelson provided an overview of Norquest College’s new initiative, Living Labs, in collaboration with Alberta Innovates. Living Labs will address community-based healthcare delivery, capacity building to support digital health, and economic development of health innovation. Their projects include virtual care, home health monitoring, and aging in place. For more on Norquest’s innovation and research, visit their website.

Sean DeWitt presented on an Alberta Innovates program for AR/VR-based projects, xR HEAD, which grants a maximum of $250,000 for successful projects within the program. As Sean described, xR HEAD seeks to:

  • Build a platform where stakeholders in Alberta’s xR healthcare ecosystem can come together in a coordinated way to jointly identify needs and test and implement solutions.
  • Provide advisory and “match-making” support for Entities seeking engagement and input with healthcare delivery professionals and patients.
  • Link Entities into the business advisory services provided by our Technology Development Advisors Program and Regional Innovation Network partners.
  • Support the accelerated testing and evaluation of xR-based innovations through real-world Projects that can generate the evidence necessary to inform innovation adoption.
  • Promote the entry and diffusion of made-in-Alberta health innovations into local and global markets to boost success of health-based xR entities.
  • Cultivate a high performing R&I ecosystem by contributing to a diversified economy and enhancing the health of Albertans.

For information on qualifications and applications, visit: https://albertainnovates.ca/programs/extended-reality-health-economic-acceleration-and-development-xr-head-program/.

Kathryn York of Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) announced a new partnership with Health City, which aims to create opportunities of cross-pollination between Health City and CCHL, with the intent of expanding the reach, network and impact of both organizations. As part of this new partnership, CCHL will be featured at Health City’s first Breakfast Series event of 2020. Health City will promote and support the National Health Leadership Conference (NHLC) in Edmonton on June 15 – 16, 2020, co-hosted by CCHL and HealthCareCAN. For more information on the CCHL and Health City partnership, visit this news release.

The December 11 event closed with the announcement of the next Health City Breakfast Series in 2020, the first of which will be held on February 13. The event will feature a presentation from CCHL, highlighting LEADS—a leadership program that provides a path to drive innovation. For tickets, visit the event listing.

 

See what attendees had to say during the event:

 

Health City Breakfast Series: Addressing Health Leadership Talent Through a Nati
Health City announces partnership with the Canadian College of Health Leaders