Dermatology Point-of-Care Intelligent Network
AI-powered medical imaging network to connect all points of care for patients who may be dealing with skin cancer.
Project Overview
Updated March 31, 2023.
The Problem
One in six Canadians will develop some sort of skin cancer during their lifetime.
Each year in Canada, there are 80,000 reported cases of skin cancer, also known as melanoma. The annual cost of skin cancer to the healthcare system is more than $500 million, coupled with immeasurable costs to families. Advanced cases of skin cancer can cost over $160,000 per patient to treat, whereas a timely intervention can cost as little as $50.
Canada is facing a severe shortage of dermatologists leading to wait times of six months or more for an appointment. Melanoma can rapidly progress in as little as six weeks and patient survival declines from 98 per cent to 15 per cent if treatment is delayed.
How We Are Solving It
Change Healthcare is leading the Dermatology Point-of-Care Intelligent Network project in partnership with BC Cancer, MetaOptima, Careteam Technologies, Providence Health Care, the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia to help speed diagnosis and expedite care for cancer patients.
The new cloud-based Dermatology Point-of-Care Intelligent Network uses MetaOptima’s tele-dermatology and Change Healthcare’s tele-pathology imaging, augmented by artificial intelligence (AI). The project offers the possibility to speed up urgent cases through e-referral and e-triage, as well as train AI models on real-life clinical data, to create algorithms for clinical decision support and medical education.
The project is rolling out in phases across B.C. The intent is to expand coverage to other parts of Canada and the world, particularly those with increased solar exposure and higher incidences of skin cancer.
The Result
This project developed a system that can effectively support a patient-centric, closed-loop tele-dermatology workflow, including remote patients and physicians. The solution leverages AI-powered medical imaging that incorporates dermatology and pathology data and images enabling patients at risk of skin cancer to get diagnosed in days, rather than months. The project undertook a pilot study to validate the patient journey, care planning, system usability and effectiveness to monitor and support treatment decisions related to skincare conditions including cancer. Overall, the solution decreased wait times substantially for diagnostic assessment of skin cancer (as compared to average national wait times); the time between referral and diagnosis was 5 days or less for 84% of the patient cases in the pilot, compared to 192 days national average for the time between referral and diagnosis.
Project Lead
Project Partners
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“The Supercluster engagement was instrumental to Change Healthcare’s success in its cloud strategy in several ways. The Supercluster made us put more emphasis on standards and open API’s than we would have otherwise. The collaboration with other companies in BC to solve a complicated problem helped us refine our value proposition in the general market and tune our solution accordingly. We have formed strategic relationships with our project partners that will carry significant value in the future. And lastly, the funding itself was a huge help at the early stages of the project when financial success was questionable. I can say without a doubt that our engagement in the Supercluster initiative accelerated innovation in BC.”
VP of Engineering, Change Healthcare -
“Early detection of skin cancer is critical to improving the chances of survival of patients. By using cloud-based medical imaging that incorporates dermatology and pathology data and images, also AI-powered workflows, the DermInt project revolutionizes the future for skin-cancer patient care. Providence is proud to have worked on such a critical and innovative idea with key partners Change Healthcare, BC Cancer, MetaOptima, Careteam Technologies, University of Victoria and UBC. Supercluster initiatives are enabling diverse and committed individuals and organizations to come together and strengthen BC’s and Canada’s culture of innovation. I have no doubt this invitation to think differently and to test ideas that lead to breakthroughs, new-product development and even commercialization of new inventions will position Canada as a Global leader in health care.”
President & CEO, Providence Health Care -
“We are Pleased to have been part of this project and believe that digital health and AI need to be a cornerstone of the future of our healthcare system. The Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster is enabling the innovation needed to bring key players together to create innovative solutions to serve Canadians and build our digital health industry. We would like to thank the Supercluster and our industry, research and clinical partners for collaborating on this project.”
Founder & COO, Careteam Technologies -
“Our platform is serving over 2M patients globally. This project provided a significant opportunity for MetaOptima to bring our made-in-Canada technology to serve our patients and doctors in BC, Canada as well. In addition, this program and funding helped us to expand our team and create jobs for Canadians. The Supercluster program and the technical developments resulting indirectly from this project played an important role in expanding our offerings for telemedicine especially during the pandemic when our technology was needed more than ever to serve patients and care providers via virtually and remotely. We are excited to continue our partnerships with our project partners, contribute more to our innovation ecosystem in Canada and export made-in-Canada technology and innovations to serve many more millions of patients globally.”
Co-Founder & CEO, MetaOptima Watch the Impact Video