Some of Saskatchewan’s leading health startups spent Tuesday mulling over the province’s technological health care future Tuesday, and the opportunities discussed are vast. During a two-hour lunch and panel discussion, dozens of innovators, administrators and government officials explored topics like overcoming regulatory hurdles, taking a concept all the way to a sold product and improving access for all. And all throughout, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill was paying close attention to the dialogue. “There’s a real opportunity for us, I think, to really engage more directly and deeply, with the innovators that we have in our own province and figure out how we work together,” Cockrill said after the event. The discussion was held at Louis’ Loft, a coffee shop at the University of Saskatchewan. Mike Wesolowski was the moderator of a one-hour panel discussion. He’s the founder and CEO of Luxsonic and has helped create VR headsets that allows for diagnostic radiology and software to be used in faraway places. His team’s technology has already been tabbed as part of the Virtual Health Hub’s initial rollout. “Creating solutions that can spread health care to those in remote and rural communities to ensure that the health care that we get in La Loche is the same health care that we’re getting in Saskatoon,” Wesolowski said. Founders in the room have technology sold in Toronto, Nigeria and the United States, but selling that same product domestically has been a challenge. While there are many avenues for innovation in healthcare, the province is investing in it’s virtual care model. On Tuesday, the province issued an request for proposals for virtual healthcare vendors. Beginning with a pilot project in the fall, patients will be provided with virtual access to licensed physicians and nurse practitioners through phone and video appointments from home. Patients will also be able to get medical advice, prescriptions, requisitions for lab work and diagnostic imaging as well as referrals, until they are connected with a permanent provider. Cockrill says this wave of technology can lead to long-term agreements in the future. “We want to make this available to more people across the province. We’re going to start in a few different regions and then really ramp up from there,” Cockrill said. Health tech founders have more regulatory hurdles to clear than a typical tech startup as they are often dealing with governments managing the data and information of all patients in the province. Wesolowski appreciates the regulatory environment and understands its importance but says there’s an opportunity for the province to work more closely with tech innovators. “It’s very important for us to develop a model where we can work together to create solutions that are very tailored to the health care system itself, and then they interact with other innovators (and) other entrepreneurs,” he said. While Cockrill isn’t one for adding unnecessary red tape, he sees the benefit in creating a central pathway to help put those ideas in front of the right audience. “What is the best avenue for innovators and founders to come forward to government and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a potential solution to a problem I’ve heard about from the front line,’” he said. “How do we create that single doorway?” – With files from Caitlin Brezinski
