Toronto Star

Innovative Platform Empowers Patients Through Education

- Gavin Davidson and Krysten Palser

Did you know that a typical patient forgets 80 percent of what is discussed with their doctor in the exam room? This presents a big problem for the Canadian health care industry — and for patients themselves — because patients simply aren’t retaining enough of the informatio­n (or rememberin­g it correctly) required to adequately manage their health.

Research conducted by St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto1 shows that a patient’s ability to understand health informatio­n and subsequent­ly make decisions based on that informatio­n — otherwise known as health literacy — is vital to their overall health and well-being. A similar study published in

Applied Nursing Research2 demonstrat­ed a strong link between patient education, empowermen­t, and satisfacti­on.

Technology is increasing­ly being relied upon to address the many needs of our health care industry. One such innovation is paving the way for improved patient empowermen­t by providing a platform that is devoted to patient health literacy.

Helping doctors empower patients

Thousands of health care profession­als across Canada are using iMD Health’s patient engagement platform to facilitate the delivery of complex health informatio­n to their patients. The easyto-use online platform, developed in Toronto and refined by a decade’s worth of in-field user experience feedback, provides a much-needed solution to the problems of poor patient health literacy and limited consultati­on time.

“Our vision is to create happier, healthier, better-informed patients by equipping health care profession­als with the informatio­n they need, when and where they need it,” says Jared Sonnenberg, Vice President of User Engagement and Product at iMD Health.

The platform provides health care profession­als and their patients with access to thousands of profession­ally vetted images, videos, documents and other resources from over 50 of Canada’s leading health organizati­ons, as well as the Mayo Clinic. The platform covers over 1,700 health topics, and resources are organized within an intuitive user interface designed for efficient and effective education delivery.

Using high-quality visuals, patientfri­endly resources, and secure email functional­ity that allows patients to review and learn more post-appointmen­t, iMD makes complex medical topics easy to understand. Consultati­on time is reduced, while patient adherence, compliance, and satisfacti­on are improved.

The company attributes a large portion of its success over the past decade to its ability to provide top quality patient resources from Canadian medical institutio­ns.

For iMD, it’s all about providing health care practition­ers and their patients with reliable informatio­n in the exam room, quickly and easily.

“iMD has created a versatile and easy-to-use tool that provides me with reliable informatio­n I can use to counsel patients,” says Dr. M. Alexander of Niagara Falls, ON. “I am always up-todate, all on one platform.”

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 ??  ?? Jared Sonnenberg Vice President, User Engagement & Product, iMD Health
Jared Sonnenberg Vice President, User Engagement & Product, iMD Health

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