Why Trade Matters
Trade and the Canadian Economy
First Telemedicine Trade Mission to Mexico
Stories of the Week - January 28, 2004:
The first telemedicine trade mission to Mexico City, Mexico, which is taking place on January 28 and 29, includes a Canadian delegation of top business leaders, researchers and academics.
Organized by the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, in cooperation with Industry Canada and the Government of Alberta, this mission was put together in response to the interest generated by the phenomenal growth of the telemedicine field and the many opportunities Mexico has to offer in this sector.
Telemedicine enables doctors, nurses and health care providers at all levels to diagnose and treat illnesses and manage health care services and distance learning for health care workers.
More than 60 million Mexican patients could use telemedicine services. The overall economic impact of telemedicine on health care institutions is just over $30 million per year, since only a few clinics are currently connected to the system and fewer than half of potential patients have access to the technology.
Broadband activity will have to expand in order to sustain the increased volume of data and audio and video signals. The expansion of the Mexican satellite system will also create considerable opportunities to develop private network solutions.
During the mission, participating companies will have the chance to present their products and services and promote their technologies and specific applications to a group of Mexican leaders from the private and public sectors, including government organizations, universities and hospitals.
This edition of Stories of the Week features Canadian companies in the telemedicine sector that are participating in the trade mission to Mexico City.
Stories of the Week - January 28, 2004
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A Team Approach to e-Health
Digital Group of Telehealth Companies, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
The Digital Group of Telehealth Companies provides strategic, multidisciplinary services for the distance delivery of health care.
"Telehealth is complex," says Wayne Bell, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Group. "Our goal is to ensure the successful integration of a holistic solution to meet the needs of our clients." To this end, the Group's four members—Digital Image FX Inc., ARTIC Lab, Digital Telehealth Inc. and Digital Healthcare Solutions Inc.—offer a range of products and services for the telehealth industry, including consulting, training, electronic health management, collaborative research, project management and equipment.
With extensive experience in Canada, the Digital Group has exported its know-how to organizations around the world. Among its clients and partners are the Icelandic Medical Association, the African Telemedicine Project, the Government of Austria, Queen's University Belfast and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technology. Closer to home, the Digital Group has worked with the Canadian Space Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Air Force, Microsoft, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dalhousie Medical School, the University of Toronto, and Yale and Harvard universities. As Telemedicine Adviser to the World Bank, Wayne Bell is currently investigating how World Bank funds may be used to implement e-health technologies in India, where many people have limited or no access to medical professionals.
The Digital Group was selected by the Government of Canada to represent the Canadian health care industry at Expo 2000 in Germany. In 2003, Group members received the CATAAlliance Innovation & Leadership Award and were nominated for the Canadian Information Productivity Award.
Automating Radiology Tasks
eSys Medical Systems Inc., Toronto, Ontario
eSys Medical Systems Inc. has been providing North American health care organizations with innovative software solutions since 1987. RadioLogic, the company's Radiology Information System, computerizes radiology department tasks traditionally done on paper, providing a streamlined process for facilities to organize data and workflow, save time and reduce errors.
Driven by the success of RadioLogic in Canada and the United States, eSys Medical is expanding sales of the product into new markets, including Mexico and South America. "RadioLogic was designed to support multilingualism, making it ideal for such expansion," says Michel Botman, Vice President of eSys Medical's Sales & Marketing Division in Toronto. RadioLogic is currently distributed through Mexico-based medical imaging solutions provider PAXARmed, which is representing eSys Medical during the Telemedicine Trade Mission to Mexico. In addition, the two companies will be showcasing RadioLogic at the Mexican Society of Medical Imaging meeting to be held in Mexico City in early February 2004.
This is not the first time eSys Medical has marketed a medical product outside North America. Its athlete health management software InjuryZone has enjoyed sales throughout Europe and the British Commonwealth for a number of years.
Sharing Critical Health Care Data
LogicLynx Technologies Inc., Victoria, British Columbia
Scattered data, duplicated services and limited sharing of information. North America's health care sector has many challenges, but there are many professionals working toward a health care system that is truly connected. One of these professionals is Christopher Holt, President of Victoria-based LogicLynx Technologies Inc.
The company's SectorLynx™ system enables primary and secondary health care organizations to share key elements of a patient's electronic health record. "As well as providing local agencies with information management capabilities, SectorLynx™ can function as a ‘feeder' system to collect clinical data at the community level and pass it on to primary care and government systems—effectively acting as a bridge between community and government," says Holt. "SectorLynx™ can also play a useful role in disease surveillance and outbreak management, in addition to providing infrastructure for remote diagnosis and conferencing." The software provides an audit trail of every user and application that accesses the database, showing which files were modified and how, while meeting health care privacy concerns by protecting confidential details.
LogicLynx does not currently have any clients in Mexico, but Holt says that may change as a result of his participation in the Telemedicine Trade Mission. "The Canadian and Mexican health care systems have much in common," says Holt. "We hope to come across a pilot opportunity with the Mexican government, private hospital and clinics."
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