By Anne Servidad, Altitude Accelerator Communications Intern

Smartphones allow us to take control of every aspect of our lives at the touch of a fingertip. It’s not just a way to communicate with one another but it also gives us the power to make important decisions no matter where we are. Our cellphones help keep us informed with news from all over the world, navigate unknown terrain using digital maps, and make secure payments from financial institutions.

And now, our smartphones will transform the way we handle our healthcare.

According to PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI), 93% of physicians believe that health apps can improve patient health and outcomes, 86% of clinicians believe that mobile apps will play a major role in the doctor’s practice, and 32% of consumers have at least one health app on their devices, which has increased by 16% since 2013. All of these statistics point to the growing importance of mobile applications in the future of healthcare.

QoC Health is a digital health company and a Certified B Corp™ Altitude Accelerator client who understands that smart medical apps deliver smart patient care. The problem isn’t building these applications, it’s the ability to scale them and reach those patients who really need it. When it comes time to market these applications beyond a test group, to be used at a hospital or the province or even the entire country, companies fail before they even take their first step.

“There are little things that people don’t think about when they build their platforms that become very important later on for commercialization, but by then it’s already too late. Our platform allows us to have it all built right from the get-go,” explains Raymond Shih, Co-founder and President of QoC Health.

QoC Health isn’t in the business of creating it’s own medical apps, but rather helps organizations to scale and commercialize their digital health ideas through the use of the company’s patient-centred technology platform. The cloud-based platform is built from an in-house team of highly skilled healthcare experts, IT professionals, and entrepreneurs to provide all the functions required to prototype these ideas. The underlying infrastructure allows to scale these solutions across different jurisdictions and stakeholders in order to fit requirements regarding privacy, security, and disclosure of healthcare data.

“We don’t want to be a healthcare company that’s just making money. We really want to be a company that tries to improve the overall quality of care in the system,” says Raymond.

Obtaining a B Corp Certification is one way of demonstrating the high level of commitment to this mission. Companies that take the certification, undergo a thorough and routine evaluation to meet the rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

As a result of their efforts, QoC Health has received $700,000 in seed financing from Epic Capital Management and Bayshore HealthCare to continue expanding its award-winning patient engagement platform. Two of their clients, The Uncomplicated Family and Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital, are great examples demonstrating how both the private and public sector can greatly benefit from QoC’s services.

For the rest of 2016, QoC Health is focusing on building a presence in the U.S and the U.K. Many Toronto hospitals are already their clients, so they’re looking to expand beyond Ontario.

“Part of the value for us and what we do for our clients is really expanding solutions across borders. We want to build a solid network across all those areas,” explains Raymond.

He added, “Being a client of the Altitude Accelerator has helped build profile and credibility for the company. They have connected us with people from either a client perspective or an investor perspective.”

Since its new start at the Altitude Accelerator, QoC has been introduced to a multitude of services that have been helpful with their mission of improving quality care in the system.

To learn more about QoC Health click here.