The Ontario government has launched the Health Innovation Pathway, an initiative to accelerate the adoption of innovative health technologies and improve patient care, by funding four initial projects totaling $12 million CAD.

The joint venture between Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health aims to ensure that Ontario patients can benefit from healthcare innovations more quickly, while creating jobs and economic growth and positioning the province as a leading life sciences hub. 

“Our government is continuing to take bold action to connect patients to best-in-class healthcare solutions, many of which allow patients to receive care in the comfort of home or better connect with their healthcare providers,” Sylvia Jones, deputy premier and minister of health, told Medscape Medical News. “The Health Innovation Pathway is just one more way we’re protecting our healthcare system and connecting more people in Ontario to the care they need when and where they need it.”

Four New Projects

The Health Innovation Pathway is part of the Ontario government’s Life Sciences Strategy. Through this strategy, the government recently invested $201 million to establish Ontario as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub.

Through its Health Technology Accelerator Fund, which was announced in the 2024 Ontario Budget, the province is also supporting four new projects. A $5 million investment in wound care management will fund digital wound management solutions to help healthcare providers accurately measure and track wounds, using data-driven insights for more effective treatment. It also will support advanced wound care dressings to improve wound healing and reduce the risk for lower limb amputations. 

A $1.5 million investment will fund artificial intelligence (AI)-powered screening to prevent vision loss. The goal is to facilitate earlier diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and accelerate treatment to help prevent diabetes-induced vision loss, which is the leading cause of blindness in adults. 

Another $5 million investment will support computer-assisted navigation systems for total hip and knee arthroplasty. The investment is intended to improve surgical precision and reduce the need for revision surgery for patients with chronic and debilitating end-stage arthritic conditions. 

Finally, a $500,000 investment in abdominal wall surgical supports will provide a noninvasive option supporting an open abdomen after surgery. This approach would prevent damage, streamline surgical flow, and improve patient outcomes.

Technology and Culture

Ontario’s life sciences sector, the largest in Canada, employs over 72,000 people at 2000 firms and generates more than $12.5 billion in exports. More than 70,000 science students graduate annually from postsecondary programs across the province. The global life sciences sector is valued at US $2.83 trillion and represents a significant opportunity for Ontario companies.

"Ontario Health will act as the single point of contact and central intake for organizations and individuals submitting proposals to the Health Innovation Pathway,” Matthew Anderson, president and CEO of Ontario Health, told Medscape Medical News. “Working in close partnership with the provincial government, we’ll evaluate eligible proposals and support the implementation, planning, and adoption of new and innovative technologies in Ontario, giving clinicians and health service providers the tools they need to improve care.”

“The Health Innovation Pathway is a single window to evaluate devices, digital tools, and procedures at scale. It’s the kind of end-to-end pathway that is necessary. It’s what’s been missing between pilot projects and provincewide uptake,” said Jon Agnew, PhD, adjunct professor of health policy at the UBC School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver.

Agnew, who has a background in health policy and electronic health records management, said that along with investment in technology like AI, these types of programs should invest in “softer” aspects of healthcare, like workplace culture, training and workflow redesign, benefits evaluation, and physician and nursing engagement. “Technology without culture change wastes money. If you digitize a broken process, you get a faster broken process. We’ve had hard Canadian lessons when change management lags. No one wants to hear that you’re going to fund workflow redesign. It just doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s the reality,” he said.

“You have to fund physician champions. Also, there should be local improvement teams in every project,” noted Agnew. He advocates for the naming of success metrics for factors including patient impact and reduction in staff overtime. As provinces gain understanding in a specific area, these lessons could be developed into a province-wide playbook that clinics can use.

“For years, health-tech innovators in Ontario have faced challenges navigating procurement and adoption processes that weren’t built for emerging technologies,” said Grace Lee Reynolds, CEO of MaRS, a not-for-profit corporation that supports startups. “By helping streamline pathways into the system, this program has the potential to address that complexity, improve operating efficiencies, and, most importantly, support better outcomes for patients. At MaRS, we work with more than 300 Canadian health ventures, and this announcement is a welcome sign that the Ontario government is creating the conditions for those companies to grow and deliver impact here at home.

“We look forward to working with the province and its partners to help identify and showcase the world-class innovation coming out of Ontario’s life sciences ecosystem,” concluded Reynolds.

Jones, Anderson, Agnew, and Reynolds reported having no relevant financial relationships. 

Evra Taylor is a widely published freelance medical writer and reporter with 20 years’ experience covering a broad range of therapeutic sectors, including family health, cardiology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, and dermatology.