Event summary produced by The Globe and Mail Events team. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.
As the global pandemic begins to recede, health care providers are refocusing on longer-term priorities, and building on innovations implemented through the crisis. Virtual health care – which once seemed a far-off target – came about almost overnight. Technologies such as A.I., smart devices and data tools are improving patient care, diagnoses and system efficiency.
What approaches and priorities will support innovation by health care professionals, technology developers, institutions and communities? The Globe and Mail hosted a webcast on September 12 to bring health care leaders together to discuss ways to improve access to care.
Missed the live event or would like to view it again? Scroll down to the video player, below.
The event opened with a conversation focused on top health care priorities, featuring Bernard Lord, CEO of Medavie; and Dr. Alexandra Greenhill, founder, CEO and chief medical officer with Careteam Technologies, moderated by Kelly Grant, national health reporter with The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Lord and Dr. Greenhill talked about the urgency to innovate Canada’s health care system in view of the aging population and the resulting increase in chronic illnesses. They also shared approaches to improve access to care for patients, and to close the gaps in communication among patients and their care teams.
Following the interview Ms. Kelly moderated a panel of health care technology leaders including:
- Dr. Muhammad Mamdani, vice president of data science and advanced analytics with Unity Health Toronto;
- Carlo Perez, CEO of Swift Medical;
- Dr. Samira A. Rahimi, assistant professor with the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University.
The panel discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is improving predictive medicine in hospitals, and expanding options for patient care to the home and community. They also talked about risks related to AI such as bias and exclusion of populations in data algorithms.
Carly Weeks, health reporter with The Globe and Mail then moderated a panel discussion focused on improving care for patients with chronic illnesses. The group talked about the work they are doing to bring chronic illness screening and management into community hubs such as pharmacies, the value of remote patient monitoring, and success strategies for virtual care. The panel included:
- Toni Leamon, CMA patient voice chair;
- Dr. Heather Ross, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, and head of the division of cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre;
- Shy Amlani, executive director of Neurosciences Rehabilitation and Vision SCN with Alberta Health Services;
- Hector Bremner, CEO of Avricore Health Inc.
To conclude the event, Dr. Ivar Mendez presented on work he is doing to expand health care and services such as prenatal ultrasounds to remote and isolated communities by using AI, robotics and virtual care practitioners.
View the full webcast below:
The Globe and Mail presented the event with support from Medavie, Avricore Health Inc. and BD Canada. To learn about upcoming events visit www.globeandmail.com/events.