Healthcare
| By the Innovation Brokers Team
Helping clear the path to the market for
healthcare innovators A new approach which links Ontario-based health technology companies with opportunities, key players, and support
T
he path from idea to innovation adoption is traditionally not a straight line and can be hard to navigate. Ontario’s Innovation Brokers program aims to help innovators identify opportunities for support, refine their business models, land a validation test site in a research hospital, and navigate other challenges along their path to successful adoption. 12 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS August/September 2017
Announced by Ministers Eric Hoskins and Reza Moridi in April 2017, the program is a new initiative of the Office of the Chief Health Innovation Strategist. “Our goal is to use the power of technology to deliver on the needs and goals of patients and the health system,” said William Charnetski, Ontario’s Chief Health Innovation Strategist. “The brokers provide a necessary link between those who need to work together to accelerate the spread of effective health innovations so as to benefit patients, the healthcare system, and Ontario’s economy.” The mandate of the innovation brokers is to work with innovators and health service providers to bolster innovation across the province. This means helping remove barriers so that new innovative technologies and processes get into our health care system and to patients faster. The brokers also link growing Ontario-based health technology companies with opportunities, key players, and support. The aim is to create and enhance the connections and collaboration that help ensure success. To achieve these goals, the brokers also work with health system partners to improve
access to sources of support, make it easier to identify test sites for gathering feedback from patients and clinicians, and offer guidance and mentorship in moving innovative ideas from development to adoption and diffusion in Ontario’s health system. The first three brokers have distinct but complementary roles. For instance, Azimuth Health Group recently launched @3iOntario, a web service that provides weekly updates of opportunities that innovators and innovation champions can take advantage of to advance their best ideas for improving health and healthcare. The service also shares requests for comment on policy directions and recent publications related to health innovation. It focuses on health technology, including digital health solutions and medical devices. “Large companies have dedicated staff who seek support for their research and development, commercialization, and growth; small ones rarely do,” said Jennifer Zelmer, president of Azimuth Health Group. “We’re already hearing from innovators who are taking advantage of opportunities that they learned about via @3iOntario to accelerate their work
