The Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) recently announced its support for six technology adoption projects through its OCI REACH program. REACH stands for “Resources for Evaluating, Adopting and Capitalizing on Innovative Healthcare Technology”. OCE has awarded a total of $4.3 million in Ontario government grants to support these innovation procurement projects. Each project is expected to provide new ways to procure solutions that allow health care organizations to operate more effectively, boost patient satisfaction, and improve health outcomes.
Ontario government funding provided through the OCI REACH program helps healthcare provider organizations develop and adopt new innovative technology solutions. The program provides technology-focused healthcare organizations with up to 95% coverage of eligible project costs to a maximum of $1,000,000 in Ontario government grants.
During its second round of funding, the program awarded Ontario government grants to following healthcare organizations:
- Mackenzie Health
- Markham Stouffville Hospital
- Southlake Regional Health Centre
- The Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team eHealth Centre of Excellence
- The Kingston Health Sciences Centre
- Transform SSO
OCI REACH Grants Support 6 Healthcare Procurement Projects
The Government of Ontario has committed up to $4.3 million to support six healthcare procurement projects. Each organization will aim to demonstrate new procurement solutions that will allow organizations to improve efficiency, health outcomes, and patient satisfaction.
The following projects will receive Ontario government grants through the OCI REACH program’s second round of funding:
- Kingston Health Sciences Centre will partner with 3SO and Queen’s University to reduce the frequency of patients who visit the emergency room related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
- Markham Stouffville Hospital is working to provide an affordable solution to automate and integrate patient and information flow services, including bed management, time tracking, and asset tracking, to increase efficiencies and reduce the “Cost per Weighted Case (CPWC)”.
- Mackenzie Health is investing in a solution to create an on-demand hand hygiene supply replenishment process to support hand hygiene best practices, which will integrate into an ‘Internet of Healthcare Things’ platform (IoHT) with real-time data capabilities.
- Southlake Regional Health Centre is partnering with six additional healthcare organizations to improve patient satisfaction, awareness, and engagement in maintaining health though a Patient Hub Communication platform.
- The Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team eHealth Centre of Excellence will partner with the eHealth Centre of Excellence and the Ontario Telemedicine Network to procure technical solutions for “virtual visits” in Waterloo Wellington.
- TransForm SSO is developing a system to solve the challenge of tracking and tracing products and care processes that are linked to patients in the health system. Innovation procurement methodologies will help identify vendors and implement traceability solutions.
OCI REACH: Ontario Government Grants for MedTech Procurement Projects
The OCI Resources for Evaluating, Adopting and Capitalizing on Innovative Healthcare Technology (REACH) Program supports procurement of innovative technologies that enhance the effectiveness of Ontario’s healthcare systems. Eligible candidates may be able to receive up to 95% of project costs to a maximum $1 million in Ontario government grants. Ideal projects should lead to improved healthcare and patient satisfaction across the province. Please Note that the program application intake for this program is current closed.
The OCE REACH program supports the following procurement models:
- Research and Development Procurement;
- Innovation Partnership;
- Design Contest;
- Competitive Dialogue;
- Competitive Procedure with Negotiation; and
- Innovation-Friendly Competitive Process.
Related Post: OCI REACH: MedTech Procurement Program for Public Healthcare Providers
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Updated: March 15, 2021.