Clinical Solutions

Medeo’s technology powers the Virtual Clinic in BC
November 5, 2014
VANCOUVER – Medeo and Equinoxe LifeCare, a healthcare management company, have announced that Equinoxe will now operate a ground-breaking online medical clinic in British Columbia that makes use of Medeo’s virtual visit technology. BC residents with MSP coverage can connect to physicians online at http://clinic.equinoxe.ca. This clinic is the first of its kind in Canada, featuring a single point of access to a distributed community of healthcare providers who deliver care using Medeo’s medical communications technology.
To date, thousands of BC residents have received care online through the Virtual Clinic, a service that has proved to be invaluable for many – such as those within rural communities like Fort St. John, for the mobility challenged, and for those requiring mental health support.
The Equinoxe Virtual Clinic is also the first of its kind in the world. It brings together an online destination for patients with a provincial healthcare system that reimburses its physicians for direct-to-patient telehealth services via secure video visit.
The initial deployment of virtual care technology in British Columbia by Medeo allowed physicians and technologists to work together to build world-class tools for healthcare delivery. Since the first online video visit took place in January of 2013, over 17,000 private video visits have taken place in British Columbia via Medeo’s technology.
Equinoxe LifeCare is an ISO 9001:2008 certified Canadian healthcare organization with 25 years of experience. Equinoxe specializes in the coordination and supervision of a wide range of healthcare services that maximize the health and well-being of patients. Equinoxe’s overall aims for the Virtual Clinic are to improve accessibility of health services for British Columbians, particularly those in underserved areas, ensure consistent availability of both medical and support staff for patients, and optimize physician satisfaction.
“Equinoxe leverages today’s technology and meets the IHI’s Triple Aim objectives, ensuring responsible contributions to the health of Canadians and to the healthcare system,” said Daniel Martz (pictured), CEO of Equinoxe LifeCare “Operating the Virtual Clinic in British Columbia expands our ability to deliver care remotely while increasing care continuity and improving the experience for patients and physicians alike.”
In a PwC report released in 2013, called “Making Care Mobile: Shifting perspectives on the virtualization of health care,” Canadians are drawn to virtual health options in order to address issues like more convenient access to a doctor, greater control over one’s health information and the ability to better manage chronic health conditions.
British Columbia is impressing other global regions through its combination of innovative support from the provincial government in direct-to-patient telehealth reimbursement. The policy work of British Columbia’s Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC has been pivotal in influencing telehealth options amongst its physicians and other Canadian provinces.
“We are proud that Equinoxe has chosen Medeo’s technology to power its medical visits online in British Columbia,” said Michael Dingle, CEO of Medeo. “Medeo was started in BC, enabled by the innovative telemedicine efforts of the BC Ministry of Health that places BC amongst the most progressive eHealth jurisdictions globally. The medical leadership in BC is very supportive of innovation designed to make meaningful improvements in the delivery of care.”
Patients in British Columbia can expect the Equinoxe Virtual Clinic to continue providing access to physicians, specialists and allied healthcare services such as mental health. The Equinoxe Virtual Clinic will ensure ever stronger communications within the family doctor community and will support greater continuity of care between health organizations.
Since 2013 in British Columbia, accessing healthcare providers online via Medeo has been especially valuable for medical follow-ups, medical questions, medication reviews, specialist referrals, mental health, and a variety of other healthcare services. Medeo seeks to build the best virtual care technology in the world for health practitioners and organizations.
The company recently released an update to its technology called Medeo Secure Messaging (MSM), which improves the use of secure messaging and file-sharing. 53,000 secure messages have been shared between patient and practitioner to date.
About Medeo
Medeo was created to equip healthcare providers with secure, mobile technology that supports access to and improves the provision of healthcare delivery. Over 775 health providers are using medeohealth.com to connect with patients online via private video, secure medical messaging, file sharing and patient careplans. Medeo is a BC-based company, headquartered in Vancouver.
About Equinoxe LifeCare
Equinoxe LifeCare is an ISO 9001:2008 certified health care management company, with Canadian offices in Vancouver and Montreal, which has been in operation for 25 years. Equinoxe provides personalized medical, wellness and mental health services, to organizations and individuals. Through its LifeCare Management approach, Equinoxe specializes in the coordination and supervision of a wide range of healthcare services that maximize the health, well-being and dignity of patients.