Transforming health: Ontario startups in decentralized and connected care

Canada is one of the highest investors in health on a per capita basis, yet that investment has not necessarily translated into better health for Canadians. Canadians undoubtedly value their healthcare system, but understandably demand better return on their $211 billion investment. The current challenges facing the Canadian healthcare system are numerous, but can be generally grouped into two areas: 1) population-driven challenges, including the ubiquity of chronic conditions and our ever-increasing aging population, and 2) system-driven challenges, including increasing costs of labour in formal healthcare settings and the cost of adopting new medical technologies. Part 1 of this series investigated two thrusts that are taking shape in Canada and around the world to mitigate the challenges described above. The first is an emphasis on decentralizing healthcare by moving care out of resource-intensive institutions (such as hospitals) and into other models of care delivery and even self-management in the home and community. The second focuses on building an integrated healthcare system that uses digital health technologies and processes that connect all parts of the healthcare delivery system, seamlessly, so that critical health information is available when and where it is needed. Introduction | 4 Market Intelligence (MI): What role do startups play in transforming healthcare? Zayna Khayat (ZK): Transforming healthcare requires innovation. Entrepreneurship underpins innovation. Key feeders of this innovation are new health ventures that are founded by entrepreneurs who are challenging the status quo. Entrepreneurship as a mindset is particularly salient in the health sector because we are witnessing the creative destruction of institutions that have been operating for more than 50 years. This report begins with an interview with Zayna Khayat, MaRS Health lead at MaRS Discovery District. It is followed by profiles of 10 Ontario digital health startups that are creating solutions for connectedness and enabling the shift of care from formal settings to the community.