Virtual cannabis support for chronic pain patients

CALGARY – Leading virtual healthcare platform, HelloMD, in collaboration with Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed (pictured), is offering support to chronic pain patients in Alberta during COVID19. According to Statistics Canada, six million people suffer from chronic pain across Canada. With the current mandate for social distancing, patients across all demographics are having a difficult time finding proper medical support.

Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, a specialist in Interventional Chronic Pain and Cannabinoid Medicine, together with HelloMD are offering virtual access care to help chronic pain patients during this difficult time. Dr. Ahmed’s knowledgeable and compassionate approach, combined with HelloMD’s turnkey set of virtual care tools, are making it easier for chronic pain patients to receive therapeutic options, while staying safe at home.

“For me, my patients always come first and I am always thinking about how I can best support them,” said Dr. Ahmed. “COVID19 has proved to be a challenging time, especially for my chronic pain patients, as we cannot provide in-person consultations or care. HelloMD, and the ease with which my team and patients have adapted to their virtual processes, has been invaluable in helping us quickly ramp up to support new and existing patients.”

Through this partnership, chronic pain patients seeking support with medical cannabis will have access to healthcare practitioners who can counsel and provide medical documents directly to Medical Cannabis by Shoppers, easing this aspect of the healthcare journey for patients.

“We offer clinics the core pieces they need now – turnkey virtual care technology, live patient support and work flows all uniquely attuned to medical cannabis – while enabling their practitioners to focus on delivering patient care,” said Larry Lisser, senior vice president of business development, HelloMD. “Dr. Ahmed values offering her patients trusted sources for fulfillment, and our integration with Medical Cannabis by Shoppers ensures her patients get the access they seek, while removing this administrative burden from her clinic team.”

“We launched Medical Cannabis by Shoppers with one purpose: to extend trusted access to the widest variety of medical cannabis products support to patients across Canada,” said Ken Weisbrod, vice president of business development, Shoppers Drug Mart. “Offering product fulfillment and pharmacist support to Dr. Ahmed’s chronic pain patients align with this mission.”

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers is Shoppers Drug Mart’s online platform for the sale of medical cannabis. The service breaks down existing barriers for patients by providing convenient access to a broader range of options through a single source, alongside expert advice and counsel from trusted healthcare professionals.

To facilitate care between Dr Ahmed and her patients, HelloMD provides Genuvis Health with a dedicated website for its patients to register for an online appointment. The HelloMD team assists Dr. Ahmed’s patients with on boarding, scheduling and virtually connecting with Dr Ahmed. After the consult, and patient registration with Medical Cannabis by Shoppers, virtual pharmacists are made available to assist with product purchases and fulfillment.

About HelloMD
HelloMD is a leading digital platform for alternative healthcare, and has facilitated more than 100,000 virtual consults between patients and licensed practitioners. With its mature tech platform, exceptional patient support and flexible business models, the company’s B2B solutions help pharmacies, clinics and producers onboard to deliver world-class, virtual care to existing and new medical cannabis patients.

About Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed is a practicing clinical Anesthesiologist, Interventional Pain & Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist in Canada. An avant-garde entrepreneur and visionary, her chronic pain holistic clinic, known as Genuvis Health, provides integrative, compassionate and personalized pain management solutions. Her diverse practice focuses on targeted pain control for accurate pain diagnosis and opioid harm reduction for post surgical pain patients. She is a medical graduate from the University of Saskatchewan and received her post graduate designations in Anesthesiology and Medicine from the University of British Columbia in 2011. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons in Canada and has a fellowship degree from the University of Toronto in Medical Simulation Education. Dr. Ahmed holds membership with national and international cannabis research societies and is an avid advocate for dignified patient access to medical cannabis. Successfully incorporating medical cannabis in treating chronic pain with the combination of regenerative medicine has well established Dr. Ahmed as a national expert in this emerging field of medicine. A sought-after medical educator, she has developed and taught countless cannabinoid medicine educational seminars and university accredited keynote lectures on the role of modulating endocannabinoid deficiencies for pain management. Her latest endeavour is the formation of the Ahmed Institute for Pain and Cannabinoid Research located in Calgary. This innovative research center focuses on how technology impacts the advancements of cannabinoid prescribing in clinical practice.