Eleven emerging Canadian healthcare IT companies will participate in a demonstration day on Nov. 19 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the University City Science Center. The program will take place at Quorum at 3711 Market Street, 8th Floor in Philadelphia.
The technologies developed by the startups focus on everything from hand-washing hygiene to telemedicine solutions for in-home hospice care services to online healthcare communities.
The eHealth Innovation Summit is part of a cross-border market immersion program between the Science Center and the Canadian Consulate General. The partnership is the foundation for the Canadian Technology Accelerator at the Science Center (CTA for Health IT) – which offers high-potential early-stage Canadian startups a communal co-working space at the Science Center's Port incubator as well as access to programming, resources and support from the Science Center's network.
By leveraging the resources and tapping into the nurturing capacity of the country’s oldest urban research park, these ambitious companies are properly introduced to the city’s health IT sector. Ultimately, the concept is aiming to create a sustained flow of jobs into the Greater Philadelphia region. CTA for Health IT launched in May 2013. The second group of startups took up residency in the Science Center in September 2013.
“There is an obvious two-way appeal for Canada’s burgeoning businesses and Philadelphia’s established healthcare delivery industry,” Science Center President and CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., MBA explains. “Innovation is contagious and this collaboration brings fresh ideas to the city, while giving companies a safe landing place for international expansion.”
Companies from two groups of CTA for Health IT participants, including the inaugural class from May, 2013, and the present class, will present at the eHealth Innovation Summit:
• Caristix transforms data flow and interoperability for hospitals• Hospitalis is working to improve clinical processes throughout the care continuum • Infonaut offers real-time clinical information hospital infection prevention and control • Memotext is developing evidence-based personalization of patient compliance interventions • Pulseinfo Frame offers database-driven informatics for disease management and clinical workflow improvement • Sensory Tech is developing telemedicine solutions for in-home hospice care services • HandyMetrics Corporation is a health software services and technology company founded to commercialize hand hygiene methods • IMPETUS Healthcare designs, builds, hosts and cultivates privately branded online healthcare communities for stakeholder engagement • iNTERFACEWARE, Inc. is a software company focused on marketing middleware technology for healthcare information exchange to global OEM and Direct customers • Metricaid Inc. is a specialist Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) start-up developing a Cloud-based technology focused on forecasting and scheduling • Phemi Health Systems, Inc. helps hospitals improve clinic productivity and patient outcomes
The event is being spearheaded by Vince Finn, Trade Commissioner, Life Sciences & Health IT, Consulate General of Canada, with the goal of sparking further creativity. “CTA for Health IT is designed to foster relationships with U.S. healthcare prospects including hospitals, insurers, clinics and physician practices,” Finn said. “Bilateral trade between Canada and the U.S. nets more than $24 billion annually and contributes to 300,000 Pennsylvania jobs.”
