Rogers, Hypercare to offer digital solution to healthcare

Rogers for Business, the last of Canada’s big three telecommunications companies to exit the paging business, is now working with Hypercare Inc. to promote the latter’s smartphone-based communications solution to healthcare systems across the country.

Pager subscriptions have fallen steadily over the years, and as network technology advances with 5G, Rogers for Business saw an opportunity for the healthcare industry to leverage the benefits of this next generation technology as they migrate from the legacy paging platform. With this new agreement, Rogers and Hypercare offer pager customers an easy way to transition to a more comprehensive communication solution over smartphones and to better meet current and future needs of modern medicine.

Dr. Joseph Choi, co-founder and chief medical officer of Hypercare, says it’s long overdue. “I can tell you real examples of how patients have been harmed due to missed or delayed pages. It’s been a problem for decades, and I’m excited that healthcare is embracing these digital tools that we already use in our everyday lives. I think it will really improve the care we can provide our patients.”

Hypercare has advantages over most alternatives to paging, said company CEO, Albert Tai. “Our solution isn’t just pager replacement. It’s a complete communication solution for healthcare across different settings.

“Our core functionality is the ability to send text messages, pictures, videos, and other multimedia in a fully encrypted HIPAA and PHIPA compliant manner. Our messaging feature allows providers to convey the urgency of the message to ensure the message gets through. Every message has receipts, so the sender knows exactly when a message was read for maximum situational awareness. We manage on-call schedules and allow clinicians to easily connect to the on-call provider accurately and easily. Hypercare even allows for automated escalation of care in critical situations ensuring you get a timely response. We integrate into different IT systems such as EHR and nursing call systems to make an all-encompassing platform for clinical communication.”

Hypercare’s cloud-based solution is independent of a hospital’s existing communication networks, allowing for redundancy in case a customers’ network experiences issues such as downtime or a ransomware attack. Moreover, it’s one of the few solutions on the market that enables providers to connect across multiple care settings for their patients. This capability is ideal for Ontario Health Teams, which enable hospitals, primary care physicians, skilled nursing facilities, home care and other healthcare organizations in the community to coordinate care and streamline patient transitions between care settings.

Although transitioning to new technology can be daunting, the move to Hypercare has been easy, said Tai. “Since most users are already familiar with instant messaging, it isn’t a very big jump. Wi-Fi infrastructure is decent in most hospitals, and since it runs on mobile devices, it can switch seamlessly to cellular data connections when coverage is poor. Hypercare’s encryption enables users to securely use their own device for clinical work.”

With Rogers and Hypercare working together, the solution provides the hardware, network, and software, all in one package.

Dr. Choi is also optimistic about the future. “This is an exciting opportunity to help transition healthcare organizations to more modern and effective communication technologies. I truly believe it will help healthcare providers be more efficient and provide better care for patients. As we know, the system is already stretched to its limit and providers are becoming increasingly burnt out and frustrated with their jobs. Anything to make the lives of healthcare workers easier is desperately needed.”

Many forward-thinking hospitals are already using Hypercare, including Michael Garron Hospital, and Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance consisting of four hospitals across Southwestern Ontario. The company has also recently expanded into the United States with a hospital system in upstate New York.

“It’s been great to see the amount of growth and adoption into different care settings such as mental health, palliative care, nursing homes, and hospices allowing them to quickly communicate internally but also to be connected to vital resources such as specialists at the hospital,” said Tai. “It’s really been an incredible journey.”

Asked about the impact of the change, Serena Xie, Rogers director of Wireless Product Management, replied “We’re very excited about this work. This solution will allow our customers to truly improve healthcare outcomes for both patients and providers. With the arrival of 5G technology, these types of improvements are only going to accelerate.”