Posts Tagged ‘government’
2024 Season’s Greetings from Cardihab
I know I am not alone when I reflect on how fast 2024 flew by, yet reflecting back through the major global and local events reminds us of just how much has happened this year. From our perspective at Cardihab, here are just a few reflections of the progress we’ve made together throughout 2024, and why we are looking forward to 2025.
Our proudest achievements continue to be our ability to deliver on our purpose – providing people with the care they need, in ways that work for them. 2024 has been a year of growth in patient uptake with many of our customers reaching record numbers of people who would otherwise miss out on cardiac rehab after their cardiac event or heart procedure. What's even more important, is that we continue to see excellent clinical outcomes, customer satisfaction scores and results as our programs scale.
Our valued partnerships and customers from private health insurance, public hospitals, virtual healthcare services providers and private hospitals are enabling more people than ever before to have a choice in how they recover from their cardiac event. With just over 75% of Private Health Insurers now providing Cardihab programs to their members, we expect access to vital cardiac rehab and primary prevention programs to go from strength to strength in the new year.
Together, we have now helped thousands of people across Australia, and as always, we love it when people take the time to share their experiences with us with letters of thanks and gratitude. This particular letter exemplifies the impact we strive to achieve...
“The importance of programs like this, particularly in regional & remote locations like [location withheld], cannot be underestimated. It’s hard enough to see a doctor regularly in these locations yet alone receive professional, life changing rehabilitation from my own living room.
I hope that this program continues to support regional locations in the future & that you have the opportunity to improve other lives like you have already improved mine.”
Another important highlight this year was the expansion of our programs to support the whole cardiac patient journey. This included helping people with Arial Fibrillation, Heart Failure and Primary prevention – for people that have had a heart health check and need cardiac disease management post diagnosis. In quarter one 2025, an exciting new partnership will begin that will offer the first of its kind program to people that have a high-risk score from any heart health screening program like Shane Warne Legacy, Heartbeat of Football, or their GP– exciting times ahead and stay tuned for updates.
None of this would be possible without the tireless and persistent determination our wonderful Cardihab team and Board, the continued support from our Shareholders and the inspirational ecosystem of digital health advocates, industry partners and agencies who are striving to strengthen the quality and reach of digital health solutions across Australia. To every person who has contributed to our journey, we sincerely thank you for your energy, collaboration, and commitment to helping us advance digital healthcare and improve heart health.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a heart-healthy new year!
Best wishes,
Helen
Cardihab CEO
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Mater partnership continues to make waves thanks to an innovative approach to care and dedicated team
Our partnership with Mater in North Queensland has again made the news for its impact in enhancing equitable care throughout the region.
"Mater believes every patient has the right to receive world-class healthcare whether they live in Brisbane or the bush," Mater Townsville Acting General Manager Anna Olsen said.
"New technology is making that aim a reality: It's having a transformative impact by bringing expert care and support straight into the homes of patients."
Cardihab's Chief Executive Officer, Helen Souris echoed these sentiments, emphasising the importance of Mater’s leadership in embracing scalable, validated digital health solutions that enable high-quality healthcare for people living in regional areas.
“Through this successful pilot we have received strong support from health services across the state that valued access to our virtual cardiac rehab program, and touching letters from patients that have personally experienced the benefits of our program."
The program was initially funded thanks to a grant from the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation and Advance Queensland. The program has helped to deliver virtual cardiac rehabilitation to hundreds of patients across thousands of kilometers as far west as Mt Isa and as far north as Weipa.
Souris noted, "This initiative showcases the impact of government investment in enabling partnerships in healthcare innovation to deliver meaningful impact to those who need it most, regardless of location.
The recent inclusion of digital health solutions in The Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Acute Coronary Syndrome Clinical Guidelines strengthens the call to action for continued support and funding for validated digital therapeutics to advance healthcare accessibility, reducing disparities in patient outcomes between urban and rural populations.”
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Funding provided to help delivery of virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation to communities throughout Queensland
Many Queensland patients will soon have access to Cardihab’s Digital Cardiac Rehabilitation program thanks to grant funding support of $250,000 from the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport and Advance Queensland.
Cardihab’s virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation platform, which is currently being used by Mater Private Hospital Townsville patients, will be further deployed throughout Mater’s extensive Queensland hospital networks to improve efficiencies and address accessibility issues that have long plagued many regions of Australia in relation to critical healthcare needs, in particular Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) treatment and ongoing management.
The funding will go towards the development of the project titled: Delivering Equitable Access Through Digital Health Innovation | Virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation For Queensland Regional And Remote Communities Program. The project will see the Mater Private Hospital Townsville Cardiac Rehabilitation team become the central hub for delivery of the virtual CR program and will service the entire state of Queensland with referrals from Mater Brisbane, Mater Rockhampton, Mater Mackay and Mater Bundaberg.
The Cardihab program enables people from rural and remote communities to recover from cardiac procedures or events from the comfort of home, while receiving quality virtual cardiac rehabilitation care under the guidance of Mater Private Hospital Townsville clinicians.
As a leading cause of morbidity and mortality nationally, and with a rising cost to the Australian healthcare system of over $1 billion per month¹, the urgency to develop efficient and effective care solutions for people living with cardiovascular disease is significant.
Cardiac Rehabilitation programs provide long-term behavioral strategies that are critical to the management of cardiovascular disease. Despite its proven effectiveness, attendance rates are persistently low with only 10-30% of eligible people attending traditional facility-based programs².
With Queensland listed at number 2 on the Heart Foundation national heart disease geographic hotspots ranking, improving access to cardiac rehabilitation is an urgent statewide imperative with regional and rural communities identified as the greatest at need.
Mater Group CEO Peter Steer spoke about their commitment to innovation in providing quality care.
“Mater is at the forefront of the wave of innovation that is changing the way healthcare providers work.
We can now reach and support patients in the most remote parts of our state through new virtual services, providing world class healthcare for all.”
Mater Private Hospital Townsville is the largest private cardiac facility north of Brisbane and will use the Cardihab digital therapeutic solution and apps to provide cardiac rehabilitation to 300 public and private patients across the state over the next 12 months.
Cardihab CEO Helen Souris says, “we are proud to be working with the visionary leaders and healthcare teams at the Mater, who understand the vital need for digitally enabled care, to overcome the challenges of traditional centre-based models, particularly in regional areas.”
“Our virtual care hub will lead the way in enabling digital care to become a scalable and sustainable modality that delivers improvements in access to care and outcomes for patients and communities.
We are grateful to have the support of the Queensland Government and Advance Queensland for this collaboration.”
The initiative is part of the Queensland Government’s commitment of $142 million towards the Advance Queensland Innovation for a Future Economy 2022-2032 roadmap aimed at driving innovation, entrepreneurship and jobs.
References:
1. Assessing the quality of cardiac rehabilitation programs by measuring adherence to the Australian quality indicators. C. M. Astley1*, A. Beleigoli1 , R. Tavella2,3, J. Hendriks1,4, C. Gallagher4 , R. Tirimacco5 , G. Wilson5 , T. Barry5 and R. A. Clark1; March 2021.
2. Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Scientific Statement From the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, the American Heart Association, and the American College of Cardiology. Randal J. Thomas, Alexis L. Beatty, Theresa M. Beckie, LaPrincess C. Brewer, Todd M. Brown, Daniel E. Forman, Barry A. Franklin, Steven J. Keteyian, Dalane W. Kitzman, Judith G. Regensteiner, Bonnie K. Sanderson and Mary A. Whooley.
Cardihab announced as successful grant recipient in $3.7 million funding pool through ANDHealth+ program
Cardihab is one of four successful digital health companies awarded a share of $3.7M from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The funds are being invested into high-growth potential digital health companies, supporting them to develop and release new products and expand into global markets, through digital health commercialisation program, ANDHealth+.
Funded by the MRFF, the ANDHealth+ program is delivered by ANDHealth, Australia’s leading digital health commercialisation organisation, providing Australia’s most promising digital health start-ups access to up to $3.7M in non-dilutive investment, alongside substantial industry mentoring and support, across a two-stage investment process.
Cardihab, successfully completed a rigorous process of qualification, including assessments by leading Australian and international investors and digital health executives, and has been selected to move into the next stage of the process.
ANDHealth CEO and Managing Director Bronwyn Le Grice said, “These companies are perfect examples of how Australian businesses are using technology to solve real health problems faced by millions of people locally and around the world. This investment will support these companies to secure the clinical evidence and customers they need to create better health and patient outcomes on a global scale."
“Due to the limited funding pools for digital health companies in Australia, ANDHealth+ is a highly competitive program that selects world-class, evidence-based technologies, as assessed by an expert industry panel and international investment committee.”
Ms LeGrice says the exhaustive process is designed to identify the companies and technology with the greatest chance of commercial growth and beneficial effect.
Cardihab CEO Helen Souris says, “to be successful in a program like this is an incredible testament to the quality of our solution, the work of our dedicated team, and the potential of our technology to have a positive impact on patients here in Australia, as well as globally.”
"Cardihab is thrilled to continue to receive funding and advice as part of the ANDHealth+ program. We will leverage this support to prepare our digital therapeutic for international markets and gather additional clinical evidence to further demonstrate our impact on patients needing cardiac rehabilitation."
We look forward to continuing our productive collaboration with ANDHealth and partners during the next phase of the program.
For more information about our programs and opportunities please contact us.
Cardihab developing intuitive AI driven analytics solution set to revolutionise patient care
Healthcare providers and patients will soon benefit from an intuitive health data analytics product called C.R.O.P.S which is designed to unlock insights gained from digital health platform Cardihab®.
Cardihab were recently awarded $782,768 in matched funding from the Australian Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme - Accelerating Commercialisation, to further develop data analytics capabilities and products within the Cardihab ecosystem under the product name C.R.O.P.S—Cardiac Rehabilitation Outcomes and Process Synopsis.
The project titled ‘C.R.O.P.S - impact via health data and augmented intelligence in care’ has the potential to transform the efficiency of care and outcomes for patients and health services by automating much of the collation and analysis of complex health data entered by patients and clinicians. It will also leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) systems to process the real world data from Cardihab’s patient care plans to identify signals or trends in patient behaviour that could indicate positive progress and/or deterioration that would require clinical attention.
The project will address key challenges of efficiency in care delivery and scalability, by both reducing the administrative and analytical burden of governance reporting as well as providing an augmented and intelligent point of care solution that will give clinical teams valuable decision making tools.
Cardihab CEO Helen Souris says this is a highly sought after solution that is targeting the growing challenge of extracting meaning from the petabytes of health data that are in our health system, and one that promises to transform current care practices for the better.
“Many of our customers have expressed a desire for a product like this to help efficiently extract insights from the huge amount of health data that is generated through the daily use of our platform. We’re building a suite of tools to support clinical and business decision making, that will ultimately enable more patients to have access to care.”
Accelerating Commercialisation is a service under the AusIndustry Entrepreneurs’ Programme, that provides organisations with advice and funding up to $1 million, to assist in the development and commercialisation of products that represent genuine innovation and a compelling value proposition backed up by market demand.
Cardihab CEO Helen Souris speaks to Talking HealthTech about the need for a data analytics solution to transform patient care and outcomes.
