Hamed explains, “What’s new here is really leveraging the power of AI to help healthcare providers reduce their administrative burdens.”

Click here to watch the full interview.

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In the interview, Mr. Shahbazi discusses the Company’s strong Q1-2023 results, future growth plans, and how WELL is leveraging Artificial Intelligence to change the industry.  

“In 2020 and 2021 we did a lot of acquisitions. In 2022 we took a bit of a breather and we focused on integration, and I think that’s one of the main reasons why we saw accelerating organic growth.  We really were able to demonstrate that we could bring together the different elements of our technology platform… We started to derive synergy and activate more sales.” said Mr. Shahbazi. 

Watch the full interview on YouTube

The post Cantech Letter Interview with WELL Health CEO, Hamed Shahbazi appeared first on WELL Health Technologies.

As you’ll see, we discussed everything from how women can support other women to our panel’s insights into leadership and what’s next for them at WELL Health.

We hope you find these perspectives valuable and can learn a little more about the different ways in which women across WELL Health are working every single day to positively impact the health experiences of individuals within the communities WELL serves.

So, let’s get into it with our International Women’s Day panel and find out what they had to say!

WELL Perspectives: International Women’s Day Q&A

Our International Women’s Day panel includes:

• Monica Cepak – Chief Marketing Officer at Wisp
• Donna Paradowski – Family Nurse Practitioner at WELL Health Clinic Network
• Dr. Alex Kuritzky – Medical & Cosmetic Dermatologist and Medical Director at DERM Lab
• Marion Adams – Co-Founder & CEO of Focus Mental Wellness
• Eva Fong – Chief Financial Officer at WELL Health

Q: Do you have any mentors that have inspired you, particularly anyone that inspired you to be a leader?

Monica Cepak – Chief Marketing Officer at Wisp

My mother has inspired me more than anyone in my life – she’s an immigrant who came to the US in her 20s without speaking a word of English and went on to become one of the early female software engineers in her field, while also raising 3 children. I’ve always admired her courage and leadership.

From a professional standpoint, I was also lucky to have started my career being mentored by the female President of global PR firm Edelman, Gail Becker.

Marion Adams – Co-Founder & CEO of Focus Mental Wellness

I’ve been very fortunate to work in industries with very high female representation. Before I worked in mental health, I worked in market research. I’ve had a lot of exposure to dynamic and effective female leaders. Women who are both compassionate and kind, but also sure of themselves, and not concerned about being perceived as difficult.

That’s a particularly challenging balance to strike when you’re a woman, and I’m just extremely grateful for exposure to role models in this regard.

I would consider both of my parents to be mentors. They were both the first people in their immediate families to seek higher education. And eventually, they built a company together, of course with the help of others as well. Seeing them building a company by putting in the hours, work, and passion. That was very important for me to be exposed to that.

Dr. Alex Kuritzky – Medical & Cosmetic Dermatologist and Medical Director at DERM Lab

I am lucky that the field of dermatology is full of inspiring women, many of whom have served as mentors, both formally and informally. I have been invited to leadership courses and conferences and encouraged to pursue leadership roles by mentoring dermatologists.

Donna Paradowski – Family Nurse Practitioner at WELL Health Clinic Network

I truly am a team care advocate, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with remarkable individuals.

My husband was a Family Physician, GP Anesthetist, OB/Gyne and a role model amongst his colleagues. So much of my healthcare philosophy evolved from the years we worked together. His sudden loss in 2008 was devastating. However, I continue along the path of fierce commitment to health care!

Rachel Donovan, my initial Nursing Director during my nursing education, introduced our class to professional nursing organizations. I met Jeanette Roger, CNA President in 1986, who inspired my professional vision. And then there’s Dr. Michael Yan, Anne Summach, and many more.

Q: When you started out in your career, did you foresee yourself having a leadership role?

Eva Fong – Chief Financial Officer at WELL Health

Yes, I wanted to be a manager and lead teams. I wanted to grow professionally and make a positive impact on businesses and people in those businesses. And it’s always been important to continuously learn and grow. I am still learning so much every day!

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

When I think back to the very early days of my career, I mean, if I’m being really honest with myself, my day-to-day aspirations revolved around not wanting to screw anything up at my job!

Above anything else, I just wanted to be someone that people could rely upon, and to do my job well. I think once I gained a base level of confidence and experience, then I was able to start dreaming bigger. For me, what that meant was pursuing my desire to build or do something that would benefit people, and ultimately improve people’s lives in a meaningful way. I think I focused on that rather than being fixated on being a “leader.”

Dr. Alex Kuritzky – DERM Lab

Absolutely. I have always enjoyed problem-solving and working creatively with people. I enjoy the journey from vision to implementation and all the challenges along the way.

Q: As a woman, what has helped you to make your career, and what are the biggest factors in your success?

Dr. Alex Kuritzky – DERM Lab

As a practicing physician, medical director, mother, and wife, I have to be very organized! I had my two sons during my residency, so I had the benefit of an active family life to keep me grounded from early on in my career. I have learned to delegate and ask for help in my personal life and professional life.

Goal setting and making calculated sacrifices are also important. By this, I mean sacrifice with a purpose, choices that I can live with to achieve my career and family goals.

Monica Cepak – Wisp

A few things I’d point to! First is mentorship. I was very intentional early on in my career to identify key mentors. They have been critical in helping me chart out my career path while serving as an encouraging sounding board in moments when I struggled with imposter syndrome.

The second is networking. Staying plugged into marketing groups and attending industry events has been a great way to build a network, establish a thought leadership profile as well as keep a finger on the pulse of the latest innovations.

Finally, I’d say business school. Pursuing my MBA helped me legitimize my hard skills. Unfortunately, women have to work that much harder to be seen as “credible” in communicating data and numbers.

Eva Fong – WELL Health

As a woman, a wife and a working mom, I’m often juggling many things at the same time. Whether it’s building my career, raising kids, or taking care of aging parents.

One of my personal mantras is “where there’s a will there’s a way.” It’s really all about resilience. I believe that I can achieve whatever goal I have set for myself. Sometimes it takes baby steps, but as long as we have clarity of what our goals are, be persistent and focus, we will get there.

Q: What do you want to achieve next?

Monica Cepak – Wisp

I want to continue leading in the women’s healthcare space – there’s so much more work to be done until true equity becomes a reality. My dream is a world where vagina, orgasm, and abortion are words that are no longer stigmatized, but rather, part of our everyday language.

Donna Paradowski – WELL Clinic Network

Ongoing advocacy of the Nurse Practitioner’s scope of practice and integration into medical teams in the primary community systems means a lot to me.

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

DERM Lab turns three this spring! We’re continuing to grow the practice and add treatments to improve the health and well-being of our patients. I want to make DERM Lab a well-known and respected brand in the skin care industry.

Q: How have you built confidence and resiliency in your career?

Monica Cepak – Wisp

For me, confidence and resiliency come from preparation and hard work – I’ve never underestimated the importance of putting in the pre-work, so there isn’t a doubt about the facts, data, and background information which helps boost confidence, especially in moments of debate and conflict.

Donna Paradowski – WELL Clinic Network

Much of my career evolved in northern rural environments, and it’s critical that health professionals support and educate others. For example, a World War II veteran surgeon taught me debridement and suturing skills. A midwife taught me the wonders of childbirth. Focus on the good, and bring solutions to the table. And have a vision!

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

I’ve learned that no one knows everything. I have trusted colleagues that I ask when I need advice and I look to past successes when I doubt myself. I learn from my mistakes and try to see challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. Importantly, I make sure to take time away from work regularly so that I feel energized and avoid burnout!

Eva Fong – WELL Health

Practice makes perfect! Building confidence is a long process where you practice something you’re not familiar with until you can overcome any fear.

There is an inspiring woman leader I used to work with, and she’s a top-notch sales executive in a Fortune 500 company. You would think she could close her eyes and do any sales presentation. But she once told me that she would practice her sales presentation fifty times the day before the presentation. That’s why practice makes perfect!

Also, “never give up” is another personal mantra. When there is something I want to achieve, I will focus on it and won’t stop until it is achieved!

Q: Another question that really stands out on International Women’s Day is, how can women develop their leadership skills?

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

We know from research that men tend to be more confident in their abilities and more effective at advocating for themselves than women are.

As an example, women are more likely than men to apply to jobs they’re overqualified for. Conversely, men are much more likely than women to apply to jobs they’re underqualified for.

With that in mind, what I would say to women is to not wait for someone to give you an opportunity to lead or to advance your career. Be assertive and advocate for yourself with confidence. Believe in your skills, believe in the value you can provide, stand behind that and don’t apologize for it!

Donna Paradowski – WELL Clinic Network

Be supportive of other women colleagues, be a mentor, and seek out mentors!

Eva Fong – WELL Health

Everyone is different, so we have to find the methodology that works best for us.

For me, I try to check in with peers, direct reports, and my manager regularly to get their feedback and ask questions. I continue to build trust and relationships, so I continue to grow and seek support from others.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve been given? And how would you tweak that and pass it along?

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

Balance is not something that is achieved on a daily, or sometimes even a weekly, basis. There are times in life when your career takes precedence, and family life has to take a back seat for a short while. My Royal College exam year was one of these times. And there are times when family life takes priority and career is secondary. My first maternity leave, when I took a full year off, was a time when family life was a priority for me.

Rather than despairing over the part of life you are “failing” at, turn your attention to the aspect of your life where you are focusing, and know that balance is a long-term endeavour. Be kind to yourself. Life is not short, it is finite. In truth, we have a lot of time to achieve our goals.

Monica Cepak – Wisp

Get comfortable being uncomfortable – it’s a sign you’re growing. I think this advice applies no matter what stage you’re at in your career. Keep pushing yourself forward and be curious to learn new skills and perspectives.

Q: Who and what are you leading currently, both people or projects?

Eva Fong – WELL Health

The entire Finance Team and I am also part of the Executive Leadership Team.  I am involved in many aspects of the business as every penny coming in or out of the company touches the Finance team.

I am very blessed to be able to contribute and be part of the amazing WELL family.

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

I lead a team that includes marketing, client support, business development, and our therapist network. And, of course, we are always accountable to the thousands of clients who trust us to provide high-quality therapy!

Q: What’s the most rewarding or inspiring thing about what you do?

Donna Paradowski – WELL Clinic Network

I simply love the stories; the lived experience changes my heart and worldview.

Monica Cepak – Wisp

Helping women feel more empowered about their sexual health.

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

Our therapists at Focus Mental Wellness are really inspiring. They’re the ones doing the work here. You know, they carry the weight of a lot of people’s challenges. Some of those challenges are very, very heavy. And our therapists do this with professionalism, poise, and passion… it’s just incredible.

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

Everything we do at DERM Lab comes back to our patients and helping them to get the most out of their health and their lives. When I help a patient get their skin condition under control and get their life back, there is nothing more rewarding.

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment at WELL?

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

DERM Lab is the first clinic that WELL built from the ground up, and I was intricately involved in every aspect, from choosing the location, the design, and selecting the team. Three years in we are a beautiful, strong, 100% female practice that I could not be prouder of!

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

We recently administered an anonymous survey about WELL’s ‘Be Well’ program in 2022. Honestly, the results were so touching. When feedback gets shared with me, it’s a reminder that real people are living a better life because of the support they’ve received from their therapists. For me, that’s incredibly rewarding.

Q: In your experience, what are the benefits of having women in leadership positions?

Dr. Alex Kurtizky – DERM Lab

Women bring other women up. We mentor each other and encourage the women around us to think of themselves as leaders and pursue leadership positions. Women bring a unique perspective to leadership, often one that is more collaborative and less competitive.

Donna Paradowski – WELL Clinic Network

Women represent 50% of the population and bring along their perspective and world view recognizing past barriers and championing new approaches.

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

Having women in leadership positions isn’t just the right thing to do, it actually leads to better business outcomes. Research shows that having diversity in a room leads to better decision-making. Morgan Stanley showed that companies with strong female leadership generated a return on equity of 10.1% a year, as opposed to 7.4% generated by companies without.

In all aspects, it’s objectively better to have women in leadership positions.

Monica Cepak – Wisp

Diversity in perspectives of all kinds is necessary and leads to better business outcomes because it fosters a healthy debate and includes the unique experience of 50% of the population.

Q: Our final question is particularly important on International Women’s Day, how should women support other women?

Eva Fong – WELL Health

Build a community to share experiences and learn and support each other. We need to remind each other to advocate for ourselves and help each other build our treasure chest.

We know that gender equality is still an issue in the workplace due to known reasons, such as when women choose to stay home and raise kids or take care of family members.

It gets even harder if you are a minority or an immigrant from another country. Even recently, when I go to various business functions, I look around, and women usually make up only 15-20% of the room.

We need to continue to encourage and support women to return to the workforce when they are ready. And for those in the workforce, continue to encourage them to take baby steps to go out of their comfort zone to advocate for themselves.

Small things matter, so let’s continue to support each other one small thing at a time.

Monica Cepak – Wisp

There’s enough room at the top for everyone to shine – be supportive and lift other women up to leadership positions.

Marion Adams – Focus Mental Wellness

Be the woman who’s not afraid to give credit to other women. Say their name to colleagues and managers, advocate for them, and champion them as you would yourself.

Donna Paradowski – WELL Health Clinic Network

Time… take an opportunity to compliment other people’s good work. Provide an empathetic ear.

A big thank you to our International Women’s Day panel!

We want to thank our panel for sharing their perspectives for International Women’s Day! 

As an organization where nearly two-thirds of our total team members and over 60% of WELL’s care providers, directors, and managers are female, it’s impossible to capture the experiences of all women. 

But we hope you enjoyed reading these thoughtful contributions from our panel of passionate and purpose-driven women. 

Taking the opportunity to celebrate the contributions women are making to healthcare is important. And at WELL Health, supporting equality and diversity is a key ESG goal and a big part of making WELL a healthy place to work. 

A critical part of creating a healthy workplace is fostering a culture of respect where all team members feel valued, included and supported to be the best they can be. 

That’s why one of WELL’s core ESG principles of being a healthy place to work is building a diverse workforce in terms of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation and spiritual beliefs, and a culture that values the unique contributions of all team members. 

For more information about WELL Health’s people and career opportunities, visit the Careers & Culture page.

The post WELL Perspectives: International Women’s Day 2023 appeared first on WELL Health Technologies.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes and celebrates entrepreneurs who have demonstrated extraordinary success in everything from creating disruptive technologies and transforming consumer journeys to building new communities and driving positive social change.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is a national award, with winners selected from pools of regional award winners across Canada. 

Congratulations to Hamed Shahbazi: EY Entrepreneur of the Year! 

After becoming a Pacific region winner in July 2022, Hamed was put forward for the national award and announced as a winner in November 2022. 

A group from WELL Health was there to see Hamed Shahbazi receive his award. Our thanks to Ernst & Young for coordinating an inspiring evening!

If you want to learn more about the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award, read Hamed’s interview with BC Business.

About Hamed Shahbazi

WELL Health’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, Hamed Shahbazi, has 20+ years of experience as a tech-focused operator. 

In 1997, Hamed founded TIO Networks (TSXV: TNC), a kiosk solution provider, before transitioning TIO into a multi-channel payment solution provider specializing in bill payment and other financial services. In July 2017, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) acquired TIO Networks for CAD$304 million. After the TIO Networks sale, Hamed founded WELL Health Technologies Corp in 2018.

To learn more about Hamed Shahbazi and the rest of the WELL Team, visit our Management page. 

What is WELL Health?

WELL Health exists to empower healthcare providers across North America with healthcare technology that optimizes their time, allowing practitioners to focus on care delivery.

WELL Health has built an innovative Practitioner Enablement Platform that includes virtual care and digital patient engagement capabilities, as well as leading Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Revenue Cycle Management, and cybersecurity & data protection services. Our digital health tools and services reduce the manual administration tasks that contribute to physician burnout and help to increase the time physicians and healthcare providers spend with patients.

By combining our Practitioner Enablement Platform with its medical clinic network and telehealth businesses, WELL has built a comprehensive end-to-end healthcare system that includes diagnostic, specialist care, private and executive care, allied care, and primary care clinics.

In Canada, WELL Health has the largest medical clinic network, supporting several thousand clinicians across various provinces and providing leading telehealth offerings, VirtualClinic+ and Tia Health.

In the US, WELL Health’s CRH Medical is one the largest providers of anesthesia services to gastroenterologists. Wisp is a leading provider of sexual healthcare prescription services. WELL also offers a unique bricks-and-clicks clinic service in multiple states through Circle Medical.

Learn more about WELL Health by visiting our Investors page or following WELL Health on YouTube.

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These are goals that everyone at WELL Health feels passionately about. For Digital Health Week, here are some ways WELL’s Practitioner Enablement Platform can benefit healthcare providers.

What Digital Health Means for Canadian Healthcare Providers

For healthcare providers, digital health is about integrating technology into workflows to improve care delivery and outcomes while focusing more on medicine and less on time-consuming admin duties that contribute to burnout.

This integration is happening slowly in large part due to the fact digitization of outpatient medical clinic experiences is hard and because care providers are naturally focused on care and ensuring their clinics remain open and operational.

EMRs are now nearly universal in Canada, that’s a big change and has been a net positive for healthcare providers and patients. But beyond electronic medical records, many clinics still operate as they did twenty years ago while struggling to meet increased demand. And that isn’t the fault of healthcare providers, it’s harder than ever to run a clinic and manage a practice and we can’t expect care providers to be technologists and small business owners all while providing care.

An Example of a Non-Optimized Healthcare Provider’s Experience

Healthcare providers face significant challenges that digital health tools can help solve. For example, consider the different administrative tasks a physician encounters throughout their day.

Everything from billing submissions, charting, and paperwork to staff management and recruitment must be juggled alongside seeing patients, with as little as 30% of physician time spent on seeing patients. Across Canada, this has a knock-on impact on patients’ access to healthcare providers and contributes to the approximately 20% of Canadians who are currently without a family doctor.

All this administration places significant strain on care providers and their staff. Research shows that physicians and clinic teams in Canada spend on average 50% of their time on administration.

This lack of support for providers has a real impact on the productivity, professional fulfilment, and mental health of Canadian healthcare providers. In fact, nearly 60% of Canadian physicians say that their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic and over half of physicians attribute burnout to manual tasks like charting and paperwork.

How WELL’s Practitioner Enablement Platform Benefits Healthcare Providers

At WELL Health, we’re focusing on caring for care providers. We do that in many ways but supporting healthcare providers with digital health tools and services is our priority. By providing digital health tools and services, WELL can empower healthcare providers, whether they work in a WELL Clinic or are looking to optimize their own clinic.

An Illustrative Example of an Optimized Healthcare Provider Experience

The way we do that is with WELL’s Practitioner Enablement Platform.

The Practitioner Enablement Platform includes EMRs, like OSCAR Pro, and other leading digital tools and services, such as Ocean and DoctorCare. The goal is to automate the manual tasks and administration that prevent physicians from spending time with their patients and contributes towards burnout.

Implementation of digital tools and services can be about cost optimization as well as making the best and most valuable use of clinic staff’s time. For example, a service like DoctorCare greatly improves the efficiency of billing, allowing clinic staff to spend more time helping patients and supporting physicians.

The same can be said for tools like Ocean. These services empower patients with online booking options, self-check in, and digital patient intake forms while freeing staff up from answering endless phone calls and handling paper intake forms.

Most of the tools and services in our platform are available as fully integrated options within OSCAR Pro EMR, helping to streamline data flows and reducing administrative burdens. And for those working in WELL Health Clinics, IT and cybersecurity are also covered as part of the Practitioner Enablement Platform to help safeguard patient data.

We also understand that one of the underlying benefits of digital health initiatives is that there is a greater opportunity for collaboration and connectivity within an open and connected healthcare system. Tools like eReferrals and ePrescribing, and other digital tools, improve overall interconnectivity between clinics and care providers.

The primary benefit of WELL’s Practitioner Enablement Platform is a more optimized and well-supported experience for healthcare providers that values care over admin and provides a greater opportunity to focus on care delivery.

How Do Care Providers Access Well’s Practitioner Enablement Platform?

Currently, there are two ways to access WELL’s digital health tools and services.

The first is to join 2,300+ healthcare providers working in WELL’s fully managed WELL Health Clinics Network. In addition to leveraging WELL’s digital tools and services, these providers also benefit from a fully managed clinic environment including recruitment, staffing, billing, lease management, IT support and more.

The second way is WELL’s à la carte lineup of digital health tools and services all available through apps.health, WELL’s digital health marketplace. There are currently over 21,000+ Canadian providers benefitting from these digital health tools and services. OSCAR Pro and Intrahealth Profile customers can shop the full range of digital apps and services by visiting apps.health.

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Unless your local clinic is particularly forward-thinking (or a WELL Health Clinic!), many Canadians still have to call a clinic multiple times or endure time on hold to book or change an appointment, even though digital experiences are common in the rest of our lives.

While there are pockets of fantastic customer experience out there, there is still an unmet demand for digital experiences across Canadian healthcare. And we know Canadians want digital healthcare services, with research from Canada Health Infoway finding a majority of Canadians want to access digital services like access to personal health information, electronic prescriptions and telehealth.

This is beginning to change, and Digital Health Week, a campaign by Canada Health Infoway, is an annual celebration of digital health. It’s about celebrating the digital health progress Canada is making and highlighting the better access and experiences that digital health solutions offer.

To celebrate Digital Health Week, we want to highlight how digital experiences help empower and support both patients and healthcare providers. Here are three illustrations of how WELL’s unique combination of digital tools and Canada’s largest outpatient medical clinic network can help provide better health experiences and outcomes.

Heather’s Digital Health Journey

Heather works in tech in Toronto and uses apps for everything. Heather is among the millions of Canadians who don’t have a family doctor and she doesn’t have the time to stand in line at a traditional walk-in clinic to wait for care. Recently Heather has been experiencing abdominal pain.

How WELL Health Can Help:

Heather wants to consult with a primary care provider, and she books a virtual care appointment with Tia Health.

During her examination, the physician has access to her medical records from her previous Tia Health appointments and notes that Heather has a history of abdominal pain. The physician recommends a physical examination to rule out appendicitis. Using Ocean, Heather can pre-book an appointment at her local WELL Health Clinic and fill out the required digital intake forms beforehand. At her in-person appointment, the physician recommends an ultrasound.

With over 40+ MyHealth Centre diagnostics and imaging locations in Ontario, Heather doesn’t need to travel far for her ultrasound. 24 hours later, her results are returned to the WELL Health physician. Heather is contacted to book a convenient time for a follow-up appointment, she can book this follow-up online for either an in-person or virtual care visit.

All these health encounters are stored securely and using the YourCare patient portal, Heather can keep track of all her visits via WELL Health’s Apple Health Records integration.

Michael’s Digital Health Journey

As a busy professional and parent in Vancouver, Michael doesn’t have time to go to the clinic unless he has a pre-booked appointment. If urgent, he will use telehealth as it helps him juggle his responsibilities. While his primary care needs are irregular, Michael is active and wants to be engaged in managing his ongoing health and wellness.

How WELL Health Can Help:

Michael wants to see a doctor for recurring pain from a sports injury impacting his daily life and exercise routine. Familiar with his local WELL Clinic, Michael visits the WELL Clinics site and uses Ocean to book an appointment that fits his busy schedule with a doctor at his preferred location.

He receives an appointment confirmation via email. Later that day, Michael discovers he won’t be able to attend the appointment and is worried he’ll need to endure a long time on hold if he calls to rearrange. Luckily, as he booked through WELL Clinics using Ocean, he can open his confirmation email and use a link to reschedule.

When his appointment arrives, Michael can self check-in and can see live wait times on his phone. His primary care physician then recommends physiotherapy and suggests the nearby WELL Health Allied Care Centre in North Vancouver.

Michael looks online and discovers the clinic is open in the evenings and fits his lifestyle. He makes an initial physiotherapy appointment using WELL Health Allied Care Centres online booking option. After his first physiotherapy session, Michael then uses Ocean to book a follow-up with the same primary care physician.

In trying to manage his busy work/life balance, Michael has always struggled with his mental wellness. And since the start of the pandemic, Michael has felt depressed, but he’s been reluctant to receive treatment due to his busy life and a sense of stigma around mental health.

During his recent visits to WELL Health Clinics, Michael notices that virtual counselling is now available without a referral through Focus Mental Wellness, and he decides to seek help.

Focus offers online therapy options that fit his lifestyle and Michael books an initial online video therapy session with a qualified professional in minutes. The flexibility and convenience of virtual therapy removes the stigma and empowers Michael to get the help he needs and take control of his wellness.

Mary’s Digital Health Journey

Mary lives in Vancouver. She works part-time and spends several days a week looking after her grandchildren. Mary has several chronic conditions and requires regular checkups with her family doctor at the local WELL Health Clinic. Mary needs the flexibility to juggle her care alongside work and life responsibilities, so she is interested in more digital healthcare experiences moving forward.

How WELL Health Can Help

In the past, Mary has always called her local clinic to book and amend appointments. But she is busier than ever and is now more open to telehealth consultations and other digital health tools if they offer her more flexibility and engagement in her care.

While Mary is looking after her grandchildren, she needs to book an urgent appointment with her family doctor. She uses her clinic’s online booking option and quickly selects a telehealth appointment with her doctor.

During her consultation, Mary’s doctor can access her medical records and writes a new prescription, sending it electronically to Mary’s local pharmacy using PrescribeIT. Her family doctor also decides to refer Mary for a specialist appointment. Using Ocean, her doctor selects a specialist close to Mary’s home.

While waiting to see her specialist, Mary uses online booking to arrange convenient telephone check-ups with her doctor that work with her busy schedule. When her specialist has availability, Mary receives an email and text appointment confirmation with a link to complete digital intake forms ahead of her scheduled visit.

You can learn more about WELL Health’s different virtual and omni-channel patient services by visiting the WELL Health Universe.

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Q: Hi Marion, we’re so happy you’re taking the time to chat with us today. The first thing we’d like to do is get to know you a little better!

For sure! So, I grew up in Toronto, and have basically spent my entire life being fascinated by human behaviour, which led me to study sociology at Queen’s University after high school.

I guess I wasn’t quite finished learning with my degree from Queen’s – I needed to understand more about why we do the things we do. At the time I was also keen to ‘get out of the Toronto bubble’ and live somewhere totally different.

So, I moved to London, UK and did my Master’s in Social Cognition at UCL, which is the study of behavioural economics – biases, heuristics that drive our behaviour, and the reasons why we make rational, or much more commonly, irrational decisions.

After I got my Master’s, I needed to figure out a way to stay in London – legally – and also wanted to continue my work in something to do with the study of human behaviour. That ended up being market research, specializing in healthcare.

Eventually, I moved back to Toronto and realized I could either continue to work in market research or pursue an idea I had way back at Queen’s University: starting an online therapy company.

Q: Can you explain where your idea for online therapy came from and what was your motivation for founding Focus Mental Wellness?

While I was at university, there were a number of student deaths by suicide within an incredibly short period of time. And for a university of that size, it was really quite devastating.

I knew one of those students well. It was just the biggest shock. My friends and I were grief-stricken.

I went from being a relatively normal student to having trouble getting out of bed. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t getting better, and that I couldn’t carry on like that.

I needed to take control of the situation and see a therapist. But when I went to the counselling services on campus, they couldn’t see me for several weeks due to capacity issues, which at the time I assumed was the impact of all the suicides on campus, but I knew I needed help right away!

While trying to figure out how to get through the next few days and weeks, I searched online for virtual therapy services and realized there was nothing. It was hard to leave my bed anyway. I thought that something like therapy over FaceTime may have been the best solution at the time.

But there really was no online therapy available at the time. That was the moment for me, and it always stuck with me.

So, when I eventually moved back to Toronto from London years later, I did a bit of research and found that still, nobody was really offering this service and it was clear to me that this is what I need to do. So, I reached out to a therapist I found online, Greg Rennie, my co-founder at Focus Mental Wellness, and we made the decision to take a leap of faith and follow this idea. And, well, here we are six years later!

Q: Can you give us a better idea of exactly what Focus Mental Wellness does?

It’s simple! Focus connects people seeking mental health support with licensed, caring mental health professionals. All you do is go to the Focus Mental Wellness website, enter some basic information, and get matched with a therapist that best suits your needs. If want to speak to a different therapist, you can choose someone else or get a one-on-one care coordinator session to help you find the best match.

The appointment types available are through text, video, or phone therapy, so you can communicate with your therapist the way you need to. Then, it’s just a case of selecting the time and date of your first session.

Super easy, and we also provide a confirmation email and a receipt for insurance purposes for all our services.

Q: You founded Focus Mental Wellness alongside Greg, with WELL Health investing in 2021. Can you talk to us about how and why you decided to take that step? 

I was introduced to WELL by a friend at another WELL company, Adracare, and ended up meeting with Hamed Shahbazi, WELL Health’s CEO. It was quite organic. It was more of a conversation than a pitch. We spoke about what the pandemic had looked like from the perspective of an online therapy provider. So, I didn’t actually meet with Hamed to solicit funding, although we had been talking to other investors.

Our goal is simple, we want to make mental health care more accessible to Canadians, both logistically and financially.

Ultimately, we decided that WELL was a great fit for several reasons, a major factor was that being under the WELL Health umbrella provides exciting opportunities and synergies that would help us achieve that goal.

For example, GPs are the gateway to mental health services in Canada, and WELL is the largest clinic owner-operator in the country. That large network and other opportunities under the WELL umbrella help us reach clients we normally wouldn’t who could benefit from virtual therapy.

Q: What else has being part of the WELL Health Family allowed you to do?

Shortly after we joined the WELL family, I emailed Hamed asking, “how happy are you with WELL’s employee mental health program?” Yeah, a little bold perhaps but I thought ‘why not!?’

That sparked conversations with Shane Sabatino (WELL’s Chief People Officer) and we created a bespoke mental health program for WELL using Focus. And the program launched soon after in February 2022.

This mental wellness program provides WELL team members with a confidential and free first session each year with a qualified therapist at Focus, plus heavily discounted follow-up sessions.

We also collaborated on ‘WELL March’, a month of free unlimited therapy for WELL team members. We had a lot of traffic, and it was really exciting to see so many people take advantage of the offer! It helped demonstrate how our platform and services work and gave people the chance to see that therapy isn’t scary!

Using the program we pioneered with WELL Health as a guide, we developed an Employee Mental Wellness Program that offers businesses and associations a chance to support their employee’s mental health as well.

We want employers to have a simple, effective way to ensure their teams can get the support they need. Because ultimately, as I mentioned, our goal is to make mental wellness support accessible and affordable to all Canadians.

Our Employee Mental Wellness Program is easy to understand. No complex agreements, no admin fees, and no long-term obligations.

We want organizations to feel like working with Focus is one of the easiest decisions a business leader can make.

Q: What do you see as the future of mental health services?

I see a future where mental health support becomes a central aspect of the universal Canadian healthcare system, and seeing a therapist becomes as ubiquitous and socially accepted as visiting the dentist or going to the gym. Where you don’t just go when you’re feeling down or anxious, you see a therapist to maintain your overall health and wellness.

Looking further ahead, I’m particularly excited about the potential applications of therapy – and healthcare in general – delivered in the metaverse. Which might actually be able to offer the best of both in-person and virtual! We’ll see though – there’s a lot more to learn about this space!

Q: What inspires you?

Working with our therapists is the most inspiring part of what I do every day. They are some of the most kind, compassionate, and intelligent people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.

They carry the weight of so many people’s struggles and the fact they can do that effectively and professionally, is truly inspiring to me.

Our clients consistently inspire me as well. I’ve heard some really heartbreaking stories. And I’ve seen some of those same people come out the other end, in large part because of the support of their therapist.

Being part of that journey, even in a minor way in comparison to our therapists, is extremely gratifying. There are very tough days when you’re an entrepreneur, it’s those stories and the therapists I’m surrounded by who keep me going!

Q: What’s the best part of being part of WELL Health?

It’s the feeling of being supported, listened to, and appreciated. Investors often have a really not-so-nice reputation. They’re known for being extremely demanding, and at times deliberately intimidating, but I’ve always experienced an enormous amount of support from WELL.

That is what I appreciate the most about WELL, the confidence in our vision and our mission.

Want to learn about how WELL is striving to be a healthy place to work? Read out Q&A with Shane Sabatino, WELL Health’s Chief People Officer. 

The post Q&A with Marion Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Focus Mental Wellness appeared first on WELL Health Technologies.

Q: Hi Shane, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. As you may know, October is Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month. Can you let us know what a ‘healthy’ workplace means to you?

To be a healthy workplace, we need to help our team members be at their best.

Part of that is creating an open and respectful environment that allows people to feel and perform their best. The other part is creating a workplace where everyone’s mental, physical, and career needs are met. That means providing support and help for everyone who works at WELL.

Ultimately, being a healthy workplace is about aiming to follow ‘The Golden Rule.’ Creating a culture that treats every team member the way we would like to be treated.

So really, being a healthy workplace requires a mix of different things. Everything from showing our appreciation for our teams with annual BBQs to putting in place mental health support through Focus Mental Wellness and creating time-off policies.

It’s multi-faceted. It’s in everything and everyone.

Q: As a healthcare company, WELL takes physical well-being seriously for all our patients. But from a People & Culture perspective, how is WELL helping to support the physical well-being of WELL Team Members and contractors?

There are a few things I could mention here. One partnership that I would like to focus on and am proud of is our partnership with Bright.

With Bright, WELL team members can access over 250 available sessions and classes that help support them with physical well-being and goal setting. In terms of physical well-being, you can do everything from a 7-minute posture reset at your desk all the way to Zumba® classes in the evening!

The sessions support any level of physical fitness level from beginner to advanced. And most are designed to support our team members wherever they are working, whether that is a home or physical office or even a clinic – Bright is very accommodating that way.

And if anyone is looking for inspiration on how to eat healthier or nutrition generally, Bright has on-demand classes too.

Another way we want to support physical well-being is with our paid time off policies. We want to encourage team members to take the time to relax, recharge and come to work at WELL refreshed.

Family Days are another point worth mentioning, as these offer flexibility to our team members to care for their own families when illness or when “life” happens.

Q: You mentioned mental health earlier, and promoting psychological well-being is another focus of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month. Can you let us know a little about the changes your team has made in providing mental health support to WELL Team Members? 

One big thing we have put in place is our program with Focus Mental Wellness, which gives every WELL team member a free session each year with a therapist and an ongoing affordable therapy option.

That’s a big deal because that first session is a gateway to helping those in need!

All of us, me included, have moments in our life when we need help. But navigating how to get help isn’t always easy.

We want to make the process as simple and understandable as possible, so we’re making it easy for people to get support.

That’s why we created a program that gives our team members a convenient and confidential way to access mental health support because it is so important.

We’ve worked with Focus to provide team members with a WELL Health portal where they can confidentially book their free session. After the first session, Focus also offers heavily discounted therapy rates to WELL employees. That helps our team members continue to get the help they need while making the most of our extended benefits.

We’ve also introduced WELL Day. That’s something that we launched in September 2021 and it’s an additional day of leave for WELL team members that can use for personal well-being.

It’s flexible, and team members can use it for anything that supports their mental or physical well-being. That could be taking the time to rest, meditate, spend time with friends and family, support a religious holiday or get outside for some exercise.

Q: How do you make sure that WELL is focusing on creating a healthy and open work environment for everyone?  

I think this is another great example of why culture is so important.

When I joined in May 2021, I could really tell from Hamed (WELL Health’s Founder, Chairman and CEO) and the leadership team that there was already a caring culture here.

That’s so important because one of the biggest things we need to do is “care for the care providers.” We have all these healthcare professionals and team members within the WELL family, and they need to be healthy, thriving and where they want to be. And need to continue to help reduce workplace injuries, illness, and burnout.

We want to promote flexible work policies wherever possible too. Within WELL, we’re supportive of remote and hybrid work where we can be. We have different departments and business units collaborating across the country as remote or hybrid teams.

Ultimately, we want to trust our team members and managers to decide what’s appropriate and how best to get work done.

What I’ve also learned is that all this needs to start with me! I have to live and breathe well-being, diversity, equity, and inclusion. So that means I need to be learning more, doing more and being open to any form of positive change in the organization. I need to be a role model.

Then I continue to transfer this knowledge to our Executive Team. We are lucky because so many of those people are great leaders who believe in this as well. If we can be genuine and do all of that, then it will permeate throughout our entire organization.

But it isn’t just about what our leadership is doing! If you think about EPIC, which stands for Employee Program Inspiring Culture, that’s a workplace program that is all about creating a fun, healthy and collaborative culture within WELL.

EPIC is led by WELL team member volunteers who organize initiatives, including social events, a recognition program for team members, and other health and wellness activities.

Overall, we know that our work is not done. While we know that we have started the journey, we have more that we can do!

Q: You mention continuing to do more, how important is it to you to keep progressing? How do you make sure you maintain the culture that everyone is working hard to create?

We have to continue to measure our success and get feedback from our team members. We want to make sure that everyone knows about these programs and can access them!

It’s a marathon, not a sprint though. We must continue to put our actions behind our words. And if you look at our ESG Report, we made sure that ‘a healthy place to work’ was one of our three pillars.

We also want to ensure that our purpose-driven culture extends to supporting WELL team members if they want to make a difference to a community or cause that they care about. That’s why we introduced Volunteer Days, where employees and contractors can take up to 1% of their work time each year and dedicate that to a cause they care about.

Going forward too, we want to focus on attracting and retaining talented and passionate people and make sure our culture values the contributions of all team members.

Q: Finally, we’ve heard a lot about the different things that your team is putting in place for WELL team members, and you’ve mentioned that you still think there is so much more you can do! So, what is it that excites you about working at WELL?

That’s a great question. It’s a combination of two things really.

First, I get to inspire, develop, motivate, and support all our WELL team members to help people achieve their goals at work and in their personal lives. And second, WELL really is at the heart of healthcare. So, to me, we have the perfect combination at WELL of supporting team members and helping to serve our patients and the most vulnerable every day.

How many organizations can say that they are working to make people healthy every day? So, I consider myself lucky in this career.

If you are interested in working at WELL, visit our Careers page for more information about our culture and current opportunities.

The post Q&A with Shane Sabatino: Making WELL a Healthy Place to Work appeared first on WELL Health Technologies.

With much-needed digitization taking place in Canadian healthcare, including rising EMR usage, many of the challenges highlighted by Cyber Security Awareness Month are impacting clinics across Canada.

Our latest blog highlights how WELL Health works to prevent healthcare cyberattacks in our own WELL Health Clinics and how WELL’s Cybersecurity Division provides services that can help solve IT and cybersecurity headaches across Canadian healthcare, including non-WELL clinics.

Why Healthcare Cyber Security Is So Important

In our personal lives, most of us understand cybersecurity is necessary, but Canadians are free to choose how much they do to protect themselves.

However, in healthcare, the appetite for risk must be low. Dealing with personal health information requires a commitment to following best practices and investing in the correct tools and services because it is clear that technology plays a vital role in preventing healthcare cyberattacks.

Unfortunately, many clinics in Canada are still relying on their ‘IT Guy’ to provide cyber security support. There is often a perception amongst clinicians that hackers aren’t interested in small clinics, and this leads many clinics to take cybersecurity lightly.

The reality is that hackers are still interested in small clinics, and the consequences of a cyberattack can be disastrous, as one Toronto-based clinic recently found out!

In fact, since the pandemic began, healthcare cybercrime has increased by 600%, and there has been a surge in email phishing and malware distribution across the Canadian healthcare system. The Government of Canada has issued guidance on cyber security in healthcare in response to the rising threat.

Ultimately, being underprepared and under-secured not only risks personal health information but can also leave a clinic without access to their EMR, calendars and billing, causing chaos. A cyberattack can also cause significant financial damage, with a potential ransom and lost revenues totalling tens of thousands of dollars. There is a risk of substantial reputational damage within the community too.

So, with the healthcare industry under increasing attack, it’s time for every clinic in Canada to move beyond their ‘IT Guy’ and take cybersecurity as seriously as possible.

But to do that, Canadian physicians and clinic owners need support. After all, why would anyone expect a physician or their outsourced IT to be an expert on cybersecurity? What should clinics look for, and what strategies or services will help them stay protected?

The Major Cyber Security Threats to Canadian Clinics

The Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity highlights four ways cybercriminals attack and disrupt healthcare providers. While each of these threats is different, they all risk similar outcomes.

Phishing

Phishing is where a cyber attacker tries to trick users into giving away data, like their EMR login credentials. Most phishing attacks rely on mimicking emails from a sender the user trusts.

Healthcare Ransomware

Ransomware denies users access to essential software, such as EMR, scheduling, and billing software, until they pay a ransom. There have been several high-profile healthcare ransomware attacks in Canada.

Denial of Service (DoS) 

These attacks look to crash computer systems or websites with a surge in demand or web traffic which causes chaos. Attackers then hope to capitalize on the disruption and panic.

Password Spraying

These attacks use automation and scale to guess passwords by attempting common passwords on multiple accounts. Password spraying is made possible by generic or simple passwords.

SecureSolutionsNow offers a Core Solution that includes:

• Email Encryption and Protection: People are the primary target in all phishing campaigns, and 90% of all attacks originate via email. Compliance also dictates that emails must be encrypted if PHI is present.

• User Awareness Training: By teaching cybersecurity fundamentals, SecureSolutionsNow empowers employees to protect clinics from common cyberattacks.

• Endpoint Protection: Traditional antivirus products are no longer effective against today’s advanced attacks. SecureSolutionsNow couples AI with a team of experts to identify unusual behaviour and protect systems from known and new attack campaigns.

• Data Backup: Data backups place your clinic in a position to minimize disruption and avoid paying costly ransomware demands in the event of a cyberattack.

SecureSolutionsNow also provides additional services that can enhance a clinic’s security, including secure remote access so physicians can safely access clinic and patient information remotely. And secure Wi-Fi allows physicians and patients access a safe and reliable internet connection while in the clinic.

To ensure clinics have support when they need it most, SecureSolutionsNow provides unlimited remote support. Our Helpdesk helps clinics solve problems if they arise. And if the unthinkable happens, SecureSolutionsNow also offers Incident Response and Forensic services. The SecureSolutionsNow team will work with clinics to manage cyberattacks and help physicians get back on track quickly.

This level of expertise and engagement provides an essential layer of security for healthcare providers and a substantial upgrade on bringing in an ‘IT Guy’ and hoping for the best!

Ultimately, SecureSolutionsNow offers an affordable and comprehensive solution for clinics that provides access to expertise and peace of mind.

WELL’s Cybersecurity Division

SecureSolutionsNow is not the only way WELL invests in safeguarding patient data and helping physicians to do the same.

WELL Health’s Cybersecurity Division provides products and services designed to protect PHI and essential systems across the WELL Clinic Network and beyond. To do that requires looking at both the attacking and defending side of security.

“There’s always an attacking and defending side of security. On the defensive side, we’re building up protective controls to protect patient records. The offensive side is equally important. You want to know where you have vulnerabilities. So proactively testing your systems for security vulnerabilities is important,” explains Iain Paterson, WELL Health CISO.

The remaining businesses in WELL’s Cybersecurity Division help to deal with both sides of security, providing WELL Health with a comprehensive strategy for protecting the most valuable asset we manage – patient data.

On the offensive side of security, Cycura helps organizations – including WELL Health – ensure all aspects of their infrastructure are safe and secure. They provide penetration testing and threat risk assessments that pinpoint vulnerabilities to WELL Health and to large enterprises, including national retailers and airlines.

Cycura plays a vital role in assessing the security of potential new businesses, clinical applications, and clinics that join the WELL Health family, ensuring that every part of WELL is adequately secured.

Source44 is very much on the defensive side of security. They sell cyber security products, integrate them, and manage these services for their clients.

Source44 deploys, proactively monitors, and updates their range of tools to ensure WELL Health and our clinics are secure, building up protection against various potential threats.

WELL’s Corporate IT Services

By combining the services of the WELL Cybersecurity Division with our Corporate IT, WELL has standardized and enterprise-level security in all our clinics.

This standardized approach also means that WELL Clinics have access to enterprise-grade hardware that enables our Corporate IT to maintain 24/7 monitoring across our clinic network.

“WELL makes significant investments towards constantly improving the cybersecurity posture of our own clinics. Those improvements make a real difference to the security of patient data,” explains Iain Paterson, CISO at WELL Health.

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