NOVA SCOTIA: Canada’s leading virtual healthcare platform, announced that it has partnered with the government of Nova Scotia to provide access to free virtual care to all of the province’s residents.
The program expands the reach of VirtualCareNS to over 1 million people, a partnership first launched in 2021 between Maple and Nova Scotia Health that was initially designed to provide virtual care access to the 145,000 Nova Scotia residents without a family doctor.
The initiative highlights the importance of supporting the health and well-being of residents and reinforcing Canada’s broader healthcare system, where more than 6.5 million Canadians don’t have access to primary care, whish is resulting in long wait times, overburdened emergency rooms and billions of dollars of added costs to Canada’s healthcare system.
Maple’s virtual care platform utilizes the excess capacity of healthcare providers to address one of Canada’s pressing healthcare challenges: access to timely, high-quality healthcare.
“Partnerships are at the heart of everything we do at Nova Scotia Health,” Vice President, Research, Innovation and Discovery at Nova Scotia Health, and Chief Nurse Executive Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy said. “And our collaboration with Maple on the expansion of virtual care will play a key role in enhancing options for care for all Nova Scotians. Together, we are providing the right care at the right place at the right time.”
Launched in May 2021, the VirtualCareNS program was developed to support Nova Scotians without a family doctor. Starting in two of the province’s four health zones, the program quickly broadened its reach to support all residents on the Need a Family Practice Registry.
Recognizing the success of VirtualCareNS and the potential it revealed, Nova Scotia Health has partnered again with Maple to expand access to virtual care to an additional 800,000-plus Nova Scotians, now including those with family doctors.
The expanded program will improve healthcare access and reduce the strain on Nova Scotia’s healthcare system and emergency rooms.
“The progress of VirtualCareNS is a testament to the impact we can drive when Canadian technology providers and governments collaborate to improve healthcare. At Maple, we’re proud to be the only technology platform with proven success in provincial-scale virtual care implementations. This latest addition to the program reflects Maple’s growing partnership with Nova Scotia Health and shows the transformative power of technology to accelerate healthcare access,” CEO and Co-founder of Maple, Dr. Brett Belchetz said. “The expansion of virtual care to all Nova Scotians highlights a mutual commitment to immediate and high-quality care for all. With VirtualCareNS, we’re addressing the healthcare needs of Nova Scotians by tapping into unused capacity in our healthcare system, providing a blueprint for future integrated care initiatives across Canada.”
With this expansion, the program can move from its initial reach of 145,000 eligible Nova Scotians to support all of the province’s over one million residents.
People on the Need a Family Practice Registry can receive comprehensive care from Nova Scotian healthcare providers who can order diagnostic tests and provide referrals to specialists. Those on the registry will also have access to general consults and prescription refills 24-hours a day, 365 days a year through a partnership with Maple.
Nova Scotians who are attached to a primary care provider will also have access to virtual care – the province will cover two visits per year – which will include general consults and prescription refills.
Maple’s collaboration with Nova Scotia Health emphasizes the transformative role of technology in today’s healthcare landscape, setting a benchmark for other provinces in Canada.
VirtualCareNS is one of Maple’s many successful partnerships with provincial governments in Canada.
Its ongoing partnership with Health PEI has pioneered solutions like on-demand primary care for those without a regular doctor, alongside innovations in virtual emergency care and inpatient tele-rounding. To date, upwards of 20,000 hospital inpatients have been managed virtually within the province.
In New Brunswick, publicly funded virtual visits through Maple’s platform in early 2022 showed such encouraging results that the province’s eVisitNB program became an extended offering.
All these programs are instrumental in addressing the pressing issue of healthcare accessibility faced by millions of Canadians.