EDMONTON, Alberta–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new initiative in Alberta is turning care delivery into a live validation ground for innovation, exploring how the development and evaluation of digital health solutions can be directly embedded into frontline primary care.
Led by Health Cities in partnership with Sage Seniors Association and Care2Talk Health, the Smart Care Clinic™ introduces a model intended to integrate innovation more closely with care delivery. This innovative model brings together health system partners, service providers, and innovators to co-develop and explore new models of care for patients transitioning out of hospital.
Health systems often struggle to move beyond pilot projects when introducing new technologies, with many solutions struggling to scale in real-world settings. At the same time, providers face increasing pressure to deliver more coordinated, accessible care for patients with complex needs, particularly seniors managing chronic conditions. The Smart Care Clinic™ is designed to address both challenges by creating an environment where new tools and care approaches can be tested, refined, and scaled within an active clinical setting.
“The Smart Care Clinic™ creates opportunities to validate new approaches to care in real time, directly within the environments where they will be used,” said Reg Joseph, CEO, Health Cities. “This creates a practical pathway to adopt solutions that work within real-world conditions and can be scaled across Alberta.”
At the core of the model is a dedicated innovation clinic embedded within care delivery. The model is designed to support the trialing and evaluation of new digital health tools and care workflows within real-world clinical settings. This includes remote monitoring technologies to support chronic disease management, patient-facing applications that enable self-management, and new approaches to coordinating care across multidisciplinary teams.
“By connecting this model with community-based care, there is an opportunity to better understand how new approaches may fit into people’s lives and across the services they rely on,” said Karen McDonald, Executive Director, Sage Seniors Association. “It has the potential to strengthen coordination and help ensure supports are aligned around the individual, rather than delivered in isolation.
The initiative is intended to support validation of innovative solutions with patients and providers, allowing for rapid-cycle feedback on usability, outcomes, and integration into existing workflows. Insights are then used to continuously refine both the technologies and the care model itself. By embedding innovation into routine care, the Smart Care Clinic™ moves beyond traditional pilot projects and creates a continuous learning environment. This approach supports faster identification of what works, what does not, and what can be scaled across the system.
“This approach allows us to integrate new tools into everyday care in a way that is practical for providers and meaningful for patients,” said Jordan Schley, CEO, Care2Talk Health. “It supports more responsive, connected care while ensuring innovations are designed to work within existing clinical workflows.”
Insights from the Smart Care Clinic™ will support the validation and adoption of new care models and technologies, enabling successful solutions to be scaled across health systems to improve access, coordination, and outcomes.
About Health Cities
Health Cities transforms healthcare challenges into practical solutions. We co-develop complete care models, working at the ground level with clinicians and patients to address constraints and challenges in novel ways that increase patient access and outcomes while decreasing overhead on health delivery teams. We’re Alberta’s trusted partner in healthcare transformation—building solutions that work here and scale beyond our borders.
Learn more at healthcities.ca.
About Sage Seniors Association
Sage’s mission is to empower seniors to live fully and independently, guided by a vision of a community where every older adult is valued and able to thrive according to their goals, abilities, and beliefs. Sage delivers a range of programs and services, including outreach, social prescribing, an elder abuse shelter, life-enrichment programs, and the widely used Directory of Senior Services. Sage works to support older adults to age in place by improving access to primary care, preventing unnecessary hospital visits, and supporting safe, timely discharges through access to community-based, non-medical supports.
About Care2Talk Health
Care2Talk Health is a hybrid healthcare company delivering virtual and in-person primary care, specialist access, and coordinated health services across Canada. With a focus on continuity of care, patient experience, and modern technology, Care2Talk is redefining how healthcare is delivered in underserved and high-demand communities.
Learn more at www.care2talk.io
Contacts
Media Inquiries:
Elizabeth Kendall
[email protected]
780.628.3101
