Stay Connected and Stay Safe: EmergConnect Reimagines the ER
In times like these, when healthcare support systems have been pushed to their limits, it is heartening to see innovation rise to meet the developing challenges facing hospital emergency rooms each day. Ron Galaev, 3rd year Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization student, has been on a mission to redefine patient care within the ER. As Founder and CEO of his company, EmergConnect, Ron has led the development of a patient-facing, mobile platform which allows for patients to triage and wait at home until the hospital has prepared the according treatment.
EmergConnect comes from a versatile team including a CTO with over twenty years of experience; a software engineer; a database administrator; along with two doctors and an academic advisor from the Michael DeGroote School of Medicine; as well as a business advisor from Shopify. This dynamic team aims to improve overall patient care and triage accuracy by keeping patients connected and comfortable as they wait. By reducing the number of patients in the ER, EmergConnect will also work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and provide hospitals a good return on investment.
Recently, EmergConnect was selected as one of only eighteen finalists from a pool of ninety for the Activate!Vaughan Health Innovation Challenge. This challenge is an innovation program that connects high-potential entrepreneurs to market-driven entrepreneurship opportunities, as well as mentorship from industry leaders. Ron successfully pitched his company’s idea to a distinguished panel of judges, investors, and partners, winning a $5,000 grant as well as the invaluable opportunity to participate in the new Health Acceleration and Patient Innovation program, also affectionately known as HAPI. Ron shares “the program’s mission is to create and foster a vibrant community in Canada where health IT and MedTech companies can grow and scale to become category leaders”.
Ron is looking forward to a bright future with EmergConnect as he leads two studies at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton which have already been approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB): Using Machine Learning to Assign Triage Scores and Flag High Risk Patients in the Context of Remote Triage and Predicting Moment by Moment ED Wait Times for Individual Patients Using Machine Learning.
The BDC Program is astounded by all your success so far Ron, and we eagerly await the next innovative feats sure to be accomplished by EmergConnect.
To learn more about EmergConnect, please visit: Emergconnect.ca.
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