The Globe and Mail: How Toronto’s PocketHealth learned to sell technology to cash-strapped Canadian hospitals
March 31, 2022
Read MorePocketHealth’s innovative technology platform makes it easy for patients to access, share and take control over their own medical information.
Just as major legal and regulatory changes in financial services led to the emergence of innovative new fintech companies in the 2010s, healthcare is undergoing unprecedented disruption and transformation.
PocketHealth is excited to be among a new wave of healthtech companies helping to modernize healthcare and improve the experience for patients and providers.
“We often meet patients at a vulnerable point in their care journey - when it's critical to have informed discussions with their medical team. We take this responsibility very seriously.”
Rishi Nayyar,
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
“Rishi and I grew up wanting to make an impact and achieve something meaningful. At PocketHealth we’re doing just that by empowering patients in their healthcare journeys.”
Harsh Nayyar,
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
In 2014, our CTO, Harsh Nayyar, injured his ankle while playing tennis, requiring an MRI at the local hospital. When he was handed a CD-ROM of his imaging to give to his doctor, he was shocked to discover that this was still common practice in healthcare – a field at the forefront of technological advancements.
X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs and other imaging assets are essential for diagnosing, treating and soliciting second opinions. Yet at a time where patients are at their most vulnerable, often embarking on a long-term care journey, they find themselves in frustrating records release expeditions. These range from in-person visits, lack of access to outdated CD-ROM hardware and locked image-sharing networks.
Together, Harsh and his brother Rishi, our CEO, co-founded PocketHealth – the first patient-driven image sharing platform that enables patients and healthcare providers to seamlessly and securely access and share medical imaging and diagnostic reports with anyone, anywhere and across any network. The platform is now used by over 500 healthcare provider sites and we are rapidly onboarding new sites across North America.
PocketHealth signed its first healthcare providers in Toronto, Canada in 2016, and is now implemented at 90% + of hospitals and imaging centers in the province of Ontario. We are expanding rapidly across Canada and the United States.
More than 2 million diagnostic images shared on PocketHealth every day
Implemented at 600+ hospitals and imaging centers
Adopted by more than 1 million patients across North America.
We are responsible for helping save lives and are dedicated to improving the health of others, so we lead by example with a positive work-life balance.
We get up every morning to support our patients. We focus on delivering outstanding support to our users by thinking and acting decisively, with empathy and urgency. We never leave our customers hanging.
We execute with excellence and make decisions that make sense today, yet still make sense tomorrow. We are forward-thinking and focus on building a sustainable foundation that enables us to thrive, grow and manage whatever comes our way.