NL Health Services adds two new strategic innovation partners

NL Health Services has added two new companies to its list of strategic innovation partners as part of efforts to explore new approaches to health-care delivery across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cloud Diagnostics (Cloud Dx) and Teladoc Health Canada Inc. have been selected as new vendors of record through an open Request for Supplier Qualification process.

The partnerships are intended to support the development of innovative solutions to improve health and well-being for patients, long-term care residents and clients across the province.

NL Health Services has also renewed its agreements with 12 existing vendors, including Amazon Web Services, Baxter Corporation, Becton Dickinson Canada, Bluedrop Learning Networks, Deloitte, Fonemed North America, Kinovo Solutions, KPMG, Mariner Innovations, Roche Diagnostics, Seafair Capital and Sequence Bioinformatics.

Kendra Lester, vice-president of Digital Health and chief information officer with NL Health Services, says the partnerships provide opportunities to address challenges within the health-care system.

"Through partnerships with a range of vendors, NL Health Services has been able to identify and implement innovative approaches that strengthen health-care delivery," said Lester.

She said the work focuses on improving access, patient outcomes, system stability and long-term sustainability.

As vendors of record, the companies can be approached by NL Health Services to develop solutions to specific health-care challenges. This may involve limited calls for proposals or targeted innovation projects involving medical device design and implementation, application development and software development.

NL Health Services also operates a Living Lab, which allows new technologies and approaches to be developed and tested in real health-care settings.

The initiative brings together clinicians, researchers, industry partners and operational teams to identify challenges, test potential solutions and assess their impact on patient care.

NL Health Services says the Living Lab provides opportunities for businesses ranging from startups to larger international companies to develop and test patient-centred solutions that could eventually be expanded across the health system.