Health Innovation Pathway will improve outcomes for patients while supporting made-in-Ontario health-care solutions
Today, the Ontario government launched the
Health Innovation Pathway, a streamlined system to accelerate the adoption of new health technologies and improve patient care. The pathway will create a consistent process for reviewing and adopting technologies like medical devices and procedures, digital tools, medical imaging and screening, lab and genetic testing and models of health-care delivery to prioritize made-in-Ontario innovations and ensure more patients receive world-class care close to home.
“Our government is continuing to take bold action to connect patients to best-in-class health-care solutions, many of which allow patients to receive care in the comfort of home, or better connect with their health-care providers,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “The Health Innovation Pathway is just one more way we are protecting our health-care system and connecting more people in Ontario to the care they need when and where they need it.”
Co-developed by Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health, the Health Innovation Pathway will ensure Ontario patients can benefit from health-care innovations faster, while creating jobs, economic growth and helping secure the province’s place as a leading life sciences hub for generations to come. As part of the pathway, through the Health Technology Accelerator Fund, Ontario is also supporting four new projects dedicated to wound care, AI-powered screening and surgical care, including:
1. Wound care management ($5 million investment), including:
- Digital wound management solutions to help health-care providers accurately measure and track wounds, using data-driven insights for more effective treatment.
- Advanced wound care dressings to improve wound healing and reduce the risk of lower limb amputations.
2. AI-powered screening to prevent vision loss ($1.5 million investment), supporting earlier diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and accelerating treatment to help prevent diabetes-induced vision loss, which is the leading cause of blindness in adults.
3. Computer-assisted navigation systems for total hip and knee arthroplasty ($5 million investment) for patients with chronic and debilitating end-stage arthritic conditions, improving surgical precision and reducing the need for revision surgery.
4. Abdominal wall surgical supports ($500,000 investment) to provide a non-invasive option supporting an open abdomen after surgery – preventing damage, streamlining surgical flow and improving patient outcomes.
Quick Facts
- The Health Innovation Pathway is part of the government’s Life Sciences Strategy. Ontario Health leads the end-to-end delivery of the Health Innovation Pathway, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Supply Ontario, the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.
- Through its Life Sciences Strategy, the government recently invested $201 million to establish Ontario as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub.
- The Health Technology Accelerator Fund is a key component of the pathway, which was announced in Ontario’s 2024 Budget and will help health service providers buy and use promising new technologies.
- Since 2019, the government has invested more than $124 million in digital and virtual care projects for Ontario Health Teams and health service providers, benefitting over 6.1 million Ontarians.
- In 2022, the government launched the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative, providing support for Ontario businesses to innovate, create jobs and gain sales in local communities – strengthening Ontario’s supply chain resiliency and driving economic growth.
- Supply Ontario is a provincial agency established to strengthen supply chain management and procurement across the public sector. Supply Ontario will support the review and procurement of promising health technologies through the Health Innovation Pathway.