Dr. Ryan Doherty, President and Founder – EMPOWER Health
Ryan Doherty and his EMPOWER Health team have been focused on a mission to build, implement and leverage national digital health infrastructure that addresses gaps in the healthcare system to empower all stakeholders of the healthcare system regardless of barriers (political, operational & financial) put in their way.
Ryan Doherty and his EMPOWER Health team have been focused on a mission to build, implement and leverage national digital health infrastructure that addresses gaps in the healthcare system to empower all stakeholders of the healthcare system regardless of barriers (political, operational & financial) put in their way. They have consistently demonstrated foresight that allowed them to cost effectively implement scalable digital health technologies 1-3 years before competitors while also leading and demonstrating product-market fit.
Ryan has also demonstrated digital health thought leadership on numerous occasions, demonstrated by his repeat invitations to share his vision, digital health experiences and initiatives at events such as the Rotman Global Executive MBA for Healthcare and the Life Sciences (March 2021: Digital Health Start-ups 2021 edition – https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment/Events/UpcomingEvents/2021-Events/digitalhealthstartups) and (December 2021: Citizen Innovators: Digital Health Volunteers During the Pandemic – https://rotman.force.com/events/s/special-event/a1V2B0000001dChUAI/citizen-innovators-digital-health-volunteers-during-the-pandemic ).
Unknown to most people, many of Ryan & EMPOWER Health’s province-wide & national initiatives, including the multiple initiatives implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were personally funded by himself as a public good.
EMPOWER Health has gained adoption & support across all stakeholders of the healthcare system with a common goal of leveraging their digital health knowledge & national IT infrastructure to address gaps in the healthcare system. These include multi-national vaccine manufacturers (Sanofi & Merck), national enterprises (Sunlife), national non-profits (CARP, CanAge, International Federation of Aging, Diabetes Canada, Lung Association, Asthma Canada, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Access Alliance, and many others), academic organizations (National Institute of Aging), clinical organizations (Immunize Canada, Canadian Public Health Association), healthcare organizations or all sizes (pharmacy chains such as Calgary Coop, pharmacies associated with banners Pharmasave, Whole Health, Guardian, small independent pharmacies, University campus clinics, family doctors offices, medical clinic chains, mass vaccination pop-up clinics, and public health units) all working directly with or partnering with Empower Health with the common goal of leveraging their IT/data infrastructure to support patient navigation & access to healthcare services nationally.
The data from the LTC-COVID19-Tracker.ca initiative has been used by the National Institute of Aging, the Public Health Agency of Canada & CIHI to inform reports on the impact of COVID-19 on seniors residents across Canada.
The MyFluShot.ca initiative mentioned below was selected & featured in the Canadian Public Health Association’s Public Health 2021 conference with the talk “Not just another vaccine locator: Achieving equitable access to flu vaccines in Ontario with MyFluShot.ca” presented by Lucie Marisa Bucci of Immunize Canada.
MyFluShot.ca & MyVaccines.ca EMPOWER Health implemented an Ontario-wide pilot of their MyFluShot.ca vaccine locator & booking tool, which collected flushot inventory information across more than 3,000 pharmacies & 1,300 clinics across Ontario from October 2020 to February 2021. This included centralized online appointment booking across the full range of all types of healthcare organizations perform vaccinations (pharmacy chains, independent pharmacies, solo family doctor offices, large medical clinics, pop-up mass vaccination clinics, and a public health unit’s vaccination clinics), as well as a centralized waitlist with automated notifications, and inventory management infrastructure.
Millions of Canadians searched MyFluShot.ca to find flushots at a time of scarcity. More than 200,000 Canadians booking their vaccine appointments online using the IT infrastructure, and more than 200,000 Canadians used the waitlist notification solution. The MyFluShot.ca was heavily used by seniors and heard many stories from seniors who without MyFluShot.ca would not have been able to access high dose flushots at a time of scarcity.
Learn more about the Digital Health Canada Awards here.
