The Government of Ontario announced that its $20 million Health Technologies Fund is accepting applications from Ontario-based healthtech teams.
The funding is being delivered by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Office of the Chief Health Innovation Strategist (OCHIS).
“My office works on behalf of health technology innovators to remove barriers and improve access to Ontario’s health care system,” said William Charnetski, Ontario’s chief health innovation strategist. “The Health Technologies Fund will help us do just that by accelerating the adoption and diffusion of new innovative health technologies and processes to improve patient outcomes, add value to the system and create jobs in Ontario.”
The fund is looking to support priority areas identified in the province’s Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which include improving faster access to care, helping patients make better decisions through education, controlling costs as Ontario’s population ages, and delivering more coordinated community care. However, the fund identified the latter point as its first priority, and is seeking healthtech teams working on projects related to home and community care through virtual, digital, and mobile healthtech.
“Investing in innovative made-in-Ontario health technology projects will help improve patient experience and transform our health care system,” said Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “The Office of the Chief Health Innovation Strategist will help ensure these health innovations are adopted by our health care system to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for Ontario’s patients.”
Teams — which must include at least one provider of publicly-funded health service (such as family health teams or hospitals) and a technology company — can apply for funding through three streams: Prototype, which invests up to $100,000 over two years; pre-market evaluations, which invests up to $500,000 over 2 years; and early adoption, which invests up to $500,000 over two years.
Applications are open on the Health Technologies Fund official website.