Canadian health-tech company working on cutting wait times at hospital emergency rooms

    Thursday, 2 January 2025 12:00

    By Tonya Organ

    A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has found that 1 in 7 visits to the emergency department are for conditions that could have been managed by a family doctor or other primary care provider, and roughly half of those visits could have been managed virtually.

    Long wait times are expected at emergency rooms but a Canadian health-tech company is working towards a way to help divert patients from the ER. Thomas Jankowski, is the CEO of Medimap. He says a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has found that 1 in 7 visits to the emergency department are for conditions that could have been managed by a family doctor or other primary care provider, and roughly half of those visits could have been managed virtually. Jankowski and his team have created a digital platform that connects people with health care professions in an effort to improve access to care and reduce ER wait-times. He says they’ve been working with ER’s for the past year and a half and the biggest challenge is getting the message out. Jankowski says diverting some patients from overwhelmed ER departments will help to cut wait times, improve patient outcomes and save taxpayer dollars.

     

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