How the pandemic forced healthcare to go digital

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Prior to the pandemic, the average wait times in Canada to see a specialist was over 20 weeks - and we were willing to live with those wait times. However, COVID-19 has really changed the healthcare landscape across the country. Wait times are now drastically longer. Elective surgeries have been cancelled. We now need to triage whether a patient can be taken care of by our healthcare system and people are literally dying while they wait. This has all but forced healthcare to go digital - even when we were not prepared. In this talk, we will discuss some of the challenges, trends, and the good news on where we are going with digital health.

Topic: Prior to the pandemic, the average wait times in Canada to see a specialist was over 20 weeks - and we were willing to live with those wait times. However, COVID-19 has really changed the healthcare landscape across the country.

Wait times are now drastically longer. Elective surgeries have been cancelled. We now need to triage whether a patient can be taken care of by our healthcare system and people are literally dying while they wait. This has all but forced healthcare to go digital - even when we were not prepared.

In this talk, we will discuss some of the challenges, trends, and the good news on where we are going with digital health.

• Speakers: Keith is the Co-Founder and CEO of Skinopathy Inc, a Toronto-based medical technology startup using Artificial Intelligence, automation, and standardized health data to revolutionize how we practice medicine in Canada and abroad.

As a scale-up adviser and venture builder, Keith has advised high-potential, high-scale businesses on their technology, revenue, and go-to-market strategies. He is heavily involved in the Canadian tech start-up community, and mentors, consults, and advises out of several incubators and accelerators in the GTA.

Keith has more than 20 years of product and business experience working with firms such as Apple, Logitech, HP, IBM, Microsoft, and others, and is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skinopathy, Canada’s Digital Health Platform for all things skin. Keith is also an instructor at the Schulich School of Business, York University on entrepreneurship and data & AI strategies.

SOCIAL LINKS https://twitter.com/thekeithloo https://www.linkedin.com/in/visualpoet/

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Our weekly civic tech hacknights bring together Torontonians (designers, coders, urban planners, government staff, mappers, policy-makers, students, communications strategists, community organizers, and more) who share an interest in making Toronto more responsive, prosperous, sustainable, and equitable through design, tech, and data. Come and be part of it!

• Agenda:

7:00-7:20 = Welcome and Introductions 7:20-7:50 = Presentation and Q&A/discussion 7:50-9:00 = Breakout groups (go make something!)

9:00 = Civic Tech Toronto Virtual Hang Out

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