Telus Health

Telus Health, a division of Telus, is a Canadian provider of digital healthcare solutions, based in Montreal, Quebec. Telus Health connects patients with physicians through its mobile apps like Akira by Telus Health and Babylon by Telus Health, which allow access to secure, virtual consultations with doctors.

Telus Health
TypeDivision
IndustryTelehealth
Founded1988 (1988)
HeadquartersMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Key people
Luc Vilandré, CEO
ServicesVirtual care, electronic medical records (EMRs) (including mobile EMRs), electronic health records (EHRs), remote patient monitoring, online claims settlement management software, pharmacy management solutions.
Revenue C$159.0 million (2005)
C$11.5 million (2005)
Number of employees
1,800 (2020)
ParentTelus Corporation
Websitewww.telus.com/en/health

Telus Health also develops health technology for the healthcare industry, including electronic health records, benefits management, claims management and pharmacy management solutions.

The company has roughly 1,800 employees with offices in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.[1] As of 2020, Telus Health has invested over C$3 billion into the Canadian health ecosystem and has approximately 94,000 healthcare professionals connected to its own ecosystem.[2]

Background

MPact Immedia—established in 1988—merged with Bell Canada's Electronic Business Solutions to form BCE Emergis in 1998, which became an independent unit on May 6, 2006. On December 1, 2004, the company was renamed as Emergis.

In 2007, TELUS Corp purchased Emergis for $763 million.[3]

Shortly after Emergis' acquisition by TELUS, TELUS split the company into three divisions— TELUS Health Solutions (for health care institutions), TELUS Assyst Real Estate (for realtors), and TELUS Financial Solutions (for financial-related affairs of businesses).

Babylon Diagnostic and Triage System
Main article: Babylon Health

In late-2017, United Kingdom–based Babylon launched its GP at Hand app—a digital chatbot symptom checker in England.[4] According to a June 27, 2018 BBC article, Babylon claimed that their chatbox could "diagnose medical conditions as accurately as a GP."[4][5] According to Fraser, there are concerns that "technology has gotten ahead of government regulation."[6]

UK's Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) was critical of Babylon Health, "whose app providing smartphone GP consultations" is available to some National Health Service (NHS) patients.[7]:95 The RCGP "accused Babylon Health of "cherry picking" patients, luring GPs away from front-line services, and creating a twin track for general practice."[7]

A November 24, 2018 Lancet article, co-authored by Brown University professor of medical science in Rhode Island Dr. Hamish Fraser, questioned the "safety of patients" using Babylon Diagnostic and Triage System (BTDS).[8] According to Fraser, there are concerns that "technology has gotten ahead of government regulation."[6] Fraser said, "I think they are basically assuming that these systems are ready for prime time."[6]

On March 5, 2019, Babylon's downloadable health app, Babylon, was launched in British Columbia.[6] By March 2019, TELUS Health had signed over a dozen contracts for 'virtual house calls' with doctors, some of whom practice in British Columbia regions where doctors' patient loads are not full and others willing to work "after hours or on weekends."[6] By March 2018, The B.C. Ministry of Health was reviewing their policy which allowed "doctors to bill $34 for a teleconference visit — about the same as an in-person consultation."[6]

According to TELUS the target market for the app includes people with busy schedules, those without a family doctor, those in live in rural communities, and for after hours calls.[6] The app includes an "artificial intelligence 'chatbot' that assesses user's symptoms".[6] TELUS Health's vice-president, Juggy Sihota, said in March 2019, that, "The only doctor I'm hoping it might replace is the doctor of the internet."[6] Costs and revenue related to the Babylon app Telus are shared between the two partners, the U.K.-based Babylon and TELUS.[6]

On March 19, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Alberta Health announced that Babylon by TELUS Health was available to Albertans and that the services were covered by Alberta Health Care. The notification from Alberta Health said that the through the app, Albertans can "access health-care information and support in response to COVID-19 – from anywhere in the province." They "can use the service to check symptoms, book appointments, see a doctor, and get prescriptions and referrals for diagnostic imaging and specialists."[9]

Locations

TELUS Health

TELUS Health has office locations in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.[1]

References
  1. "Telus Health Offices". Telus Health. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  2. "Innovation in healthcare". Telus Health. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  3. "Telus buys Emergis for $763M". The Star. Vancouver. November 29, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. Copestake, Jen (June 27, 2018). "Babylon claims its chatbot beats GPs at medical exam". Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  5. Razzaki, Salman; Baker, Adam; Perov, Yura; Middleton, Katherine; Baxter, Janie; Mullarkey, Daniel; Sangar, Davinder; Taliercio, Michael; Butt, Mobasher; Majeed, Azeem; DoRosario, Arnold; Mahoney, Megan; Johri, Saurabh (June 2018). "A comparative study of artificial intelligence and human doctors for the purpose of triage and diagnosis". arXiv:1806.10698 [cs.AI].
  6. Rankin, Eric (March 18, 2019). "Filling the medical care gap or causing cracks? Telus launches health app". CBC News. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  7. "Is digital medicine different?" (PDF). The Lancet. Editorial (392). 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2020. "On July 5, 2018, the National Health Service (NHS) launched a "new NHS app enabling patients to make appointments, order repeat prescriptions, access their general practitioner (GP) records, and make urgent medical queries." The free app was "developed by NHS England and NHS Digital".
  8. Fraser, Hamish; Coiera, Enrico; Wong, David (November 24, 2018). "Safety of patient-facing digital symptom checkers". The Lancet. 392 (10161): 2263–2264. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32819-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 30413281. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  9. "New app helps Albertans access health care". Government of Alberta. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
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