Kingston software firm’s solution helps hospitals throughout the region reduce surgical wait times

December 1, 2022

Multiple hospitals in Eastern Ontario, including many of Ottawa’s largest facilities, will be better able to reduce surgical backlogs with help from a Kingston software firm.

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Multiple hospitals in Eastern Ontario, including many of Ottawa’s largest facilities, will be better able to manage and reduce surgical backlogs with help from a Kingston software firm. The Centralized Regional Surgical Wait List Management Hub, built by Kingston-based Novari Health, consolidates patients waiting for surgery into a real-time regional wait list using interactive mapping and analytics tools. The Hub will improve the coordination of surgical services between hospitals in Eastern Ontario, meaning patients may be able to receive their surgery sooner at a different hospital. The software will integrate with existing hospital systems to gain an overall picture of backlogs, speed up wait times and help identify bottlenecks at various stages of the surgical process. All regional hospitals that perform adult surgeries will be included in the Champlain Centralized Regional Surgical Waitlist Management Hub initiative. "By working together and using real-time data, we can improve patients' access to surgeries and procedures," said Andrew Falconer, president and CEO of Queensway Carleton Hospital, in a news release. "Working with Novari and other care providers, the Hub will create better outcomes for patients waiting for surgeries, better use of hospital resources and a smarter, data-driven and coordinated approach to address the surgical backlog in our region," said Bernard Leduc, president and CEO of Hôpital Montfort. "The (Hub) will allow us to deliver surgical services to patients and address ongoing pandemic pressures," said Suzanne Madore, chief operating officer and chief nursing executive of The Ottawa Hospital. "This system of partnerships will facilitate seamless communication between hospitals while we continue to deliver high-quality patient care." Hospitals and their individual surgical wait lists are being onboarded in phases. The initial phase included Hôpital Montfort, Queensway Carleton Hospital and Cornwall Community Hospital. In coming weeks, The Ottawa Hospital and Hawkesbury & District General Hospital will be onboarded. Once these hospitals are live on the system, they will be joined by:

Almonte General Hospital
Arnprior and District Memorial Hospital
Carleton Place and District Memorial
Deep River and District Hospital
Glengarry Memorial Hospital
Kemptville District Hospital
Ottawa Heart Institute
Pembroke Regional Hospital
Renfrew Victoria Hospital
Winchester District Memorial Hospital

Novari Health designs, builds and implements enterprise-scale SaaS solutions that improve the delivery of healthcare services. Based in Kingston and with offices in Australia and New Zealand, Novari has become one of the largest Canadian-based digital health solution providers. "This ground-breaking technology provides the hospitals with the tools they need to coordinate surgical services in real time within the region, all while supporting better patient outcomes while tackling the surgical backlog," said John Sinclair, president of Novari Health. Ontario has provided funding to hospitals across the Ottawa region since 2020-21 to support a complex, multi-year transformation initiative aimed at supporting enhanced load balancing of surgical cases and reductions in patient wait times, as well as development of the technical infrastructure required to support centralized waitlist management at the provincial level. "Integrating this made-in-Ontario software in hospitals across Eastern Ontario will mean shorter wait times for patients awaiting surgery and a more efficient use of hospital resources," said Minister of Health Sylvia Jones. "This is an excellent example of the innovation we are calling for, all with the goal of improving our health system and creating a better experience for the patient."