VeroSource Solutions Inc.
Kevin Hurley
COO, VeroSource Solutions Inc
Kevin.Hurley@verosource.com
VeroSource Solutions Inc. is a New Brunswick digital health company, established in 2014, to empower people and unlock the potential in Canadian healthcare. VeroSource has a team of professionals with extensive experience with the full lifecycle of healthcare information technology solutions. This experience informs our digital health strategy focusing on the needs of stakeholders, and specifically citizens, at every step of the solution lifecycle. We believe that prioritizing citizen engagement leveraging design thinking principles is key to driving innovation in healthcare.
To enable our innovation strategy, VeroSource has a built a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) offering based on the VeroSource Framework© (VSF). VSF is an enterprise multi-channel middleware that integrates front end services with registries, business logic and other enterprise assets. Built on a microservices architecture, it enables progressive web and mobile applications, rapid implementation of jurisdiction-specific integrations, while providing core common services, in a flexible, scalable cloud-based service. It includes many services that enable the rapid launch of secure citizen-facing applications including an integrated lab results viewer, assessment services, secure communication, appointment scheduling and more. The service is built to facilitate comprehensive analytics which is critical to driving efficiency, reducing cost of delivery, and improving health outcomes.
Digital health solutions have historically focused on clinical and operations requirements which are enablers of system efficiencies, yet often lack a focus on the needs and engagement of citizens. Citizen-facing innovations, consistent with the digital transformation that is core to innovation in other sectors, and the expectations informed by the wide-spread adoption of mobile device technology, is foundational to the future of healthcare in Canada. A new generation of digital health platforms must be flexible enough adapt and support the evolving requirements and expectations of citizens, and their interactions with the healthcare system.
Most recently, VeroSource’s secure SaaS software was rapidly deployed by the Government of New Brunswick Department of Health and Shared Health Manitoba to provide on-demand access to COVID-19 test results to citizens using a secure Web application. This has benefits for citizens allowing them to get test results as they are available – without the delays inherent with phone notification systems. The solution also reduces the workload on Public Health staff allowing them to focus on other priorities.
New Brunswick and Manitoba were able to subscribe to VeroSource’s SaaS offering via funding from Canada Health Infoway (CHI). CHI, in their pan-Canadian role facilitating technology innovation in Digital Health, provided both advocacy connecting private sector firms to jurisdictions across the country, and the funding to respond to the COVID-19 needs. Our relationship with CHI, and their understanding of the leading-edge solutions we have implemented in New Brunswick, resulted in VeroSource exporting our technology to Manitoba for COVID-19 using the same model as in New Brunswick.
Small to Medium enterprises (SMEs), including VeroSource Solutions are uniquely positioned to drive innovation. Public procurement processes are often prohibitively complex and time consuming and thus favor larger organizations. New procurement processes that accommodate iterative design and implementation methodologies, design thinking, agile, continuous integration and continuous delivery and modern cloud-based solutions will be critical to enabling the next wave of digital health innovation. Existing procurement processes are structured around defining all requirements in advance as captured in a broad RFP, and do not contemplate the rapidly changing needs of citizens, clinicians, and staff, and often fail to deliver expected benefits.
Digital Health technology requirements have much in common due to Canada Health Infoway’s blueprint initiatives. Establishing new cross-jurisdiction cooperative procurement and funding processes, that focus on enabling SMEs to contribute and drive innovation, has the potential to deliver many benefits for Canadians.