BC Children’s Hospital and B.C. Women’s Hospital are among 26 Vancouver area healthcare facilities that have started using a new app that can track staff and resources in real-time.
The app, COVID-19 Critical Care Resource Management, was developed by two Vancouver-based tech companies, healthtech software startup Thrive Health and Traction on Demand, in collaboration with the Government of British Columbia and Salesforce.
“In a time of crisis, it is crucial to be able to track your people and critical supplies in real-time.”
The new app helps view, track, and allocate critical healthcare personnel, personal protective equipment (PPE), and ventilator availability, helping healthcare facilities assign resources where they are needed most.
“In a time of crisis, it is crucial to be able to track your people and critical supplies in real-time, so they can be allocated efficiently and effectively to save lives and ease pressure on the system,” said David Helliwell, co-founder and CEO of Thrive Health.
The idea for what is being called a first-of-its-kind app came after Thrive Health recognized that hospitals were facing a crisis in handling supplies and human resources. There have been increasing calls from governments at all levels for companies to help support efforts in the fight against COVID-19. Companies have been stepping up and working with governments, through fast-tracked procurement processes, to offer much-needed software and medical equipment meant to create more efficient processes for healthcare facilities.
RELATED: Telus, Alberta partner to launch virtual doctor services to supplement provincial healthcare system
The COVID-19 Critical Care Resource Management app can be customized by healthcare providers, accessible from any permanent or temporary facility around the world, and is available on any device, making it portable for practitioners.
It not only helps track and allocates resources, but the app also diverts patients to hospitals in their area where the most immediate and appropriate care can be given and offers advanced reporting capabilities to ensure that information is available at all levels of system leadership — from hospital department heads to regional health authorities.
The app can also serve as a communication hub for collaboration between healthcare providers within a site or across regions. Thrive Health and Traction on Demand noted that while hospitals can install their own independent version, the app can also be installed by regional authorities, offering a full view of a network’s utilization and capacity.
Founded in 2016, Thrive Health is a software company founded with a mission to improve the delivery of healthcare. It offers a variety of solutions from maternity care to surgical optimization meant to help make the healthcare system easier to access for patients and practitioners.
Thrive Health has also worked with the BC Ministry of Health to develop the COVID-19 BC Support App, which is a central resource for accessing personalized, trusted, evidence-based information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Thrive Health has also developed a Canada-wide COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool alongside Health Canada.
Traction on Demand, a Salesforce consulting and application development firm, helped build the latest app on Salesforce’s platform.
“This collaboration was an opportunity for us to give what we’re good at,” said Greg Malpass, founder and CEO of Traction on Demand. “When communities and organizations come together and offer their expertise, amazing things can happen and lives will be saved. I have incredible gratitude for our partners in this effort for their generosity, ingenuity, focus, foresight, and speed.”
“British Columbia’s world-class talent is coming together to tackle the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Premier of B.C. John Horgan. “It is reassuring to see businesses and government joining forces to answer the call. This new app is an example of B.C. leaders in tech and healthcare solving problems to save lives globally.”
Imag source Pixabay