Shortages of nurse practitioners and primary care physicians in countries like Canada offer significant barriers for many individuals seeking routine medical care such as yearly physicals or check-ups, and this gap between supply and demand for medical care has opened up an opportunity for healthcare companies that can effectively utilize emerging telemedicine technology. One such company—Premier Health Group Inc. through its subsidiary HealthVue—is finding that combining traditional healthcare with this adaptable new technological solution can help meet a significant market demand for primary care delivery.
Acquired by Premier Health in August 2018, HealthVue currently boasts a roster of over 100,000 active patients in Canada. The goal of the service is to utilize telemedicine and artificial intelligence to support physicians providing care to patients when they can’t physically be in the same room. This platform can help bring doctor and patient together whether the barrier is due to long wait times, unavailability due to vacation or anything else.
Patients can access HealthVue’s platform via a smartphone app or their website. The platform then connects the patient with an available physician within the network, allowing treatment to begin within seconds from anywhere. Practitioners have full access to patients’ medical history and are able to provide a diagnosis, offer a course of treatment and even write prescriptions via the HealthVue platform.
Premier Health is currently seeking to expand the potential of its HealthVue platform even further. As of October 11th, Premier Health has chosen Reliq Health Technologies Inc. as exclusive technology partner. Reliq specializes in creating SaaS solutions for the healthcare market, and Premier Health expects to be able to use Reliq’s innovative technology to increase the robustness of the HealthVue platform. The HealthVue app backed by Reliq will let patients review their own medical charts, book appointments, quickly chat with staff and pharmacists, request prescription refills and seamlessly share their own collected health data with their physician team.
The telemedicine sector is projected to reach $19.5 billion in 2025 according to projections from Transparency Market Research. Thanks to its recent acquisition of HealthVue and its partnership with Reliq, Premier Health is poised to capture significant market share as the telemedicine sector continues to surge.
