Ted Scott
A joint research program, Virtual Care and Remote Automated Monitoring Technology Research (VICTOR), has been established by PHRI, a cancer research institute, and a data science/digital health IT centre in Hamilton, Canada.
By formalizing pioneering work in innovation of health delivery based on virtual care, the VICTOR program will strengthen existing collaborations between:
- PHRI’s perioperative and surgery and digital health research groups
- The Centre for Data Science and Digital Health (CREATE), an advanced IT group within Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS); and
- Researchers from the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute (ECRI).
The Executive Research Program Committee is comprised of: PHRI Scientist Michael McGillion (chair); PHRI Senior Scientist PJ Devereaux; Mark Levine, Director, ECRI; Jeremy Petch, lead, CREATE; and Ted Scott, VP, Research, and Chief Innovation Officer, HHS.
Jeremy Petch
One of the first projects in the VICTOR program is the Perioperative and Cancer Outcomes through Excellence and Application of Virtual Technologies (PROTECT) laboratory being built at the Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences. McGillion, Devereaux and Mark Levine are leading this project.
As well as the number of post-surgical patients who can be helped with virtual care, most cancer care is outpatient-based. When a medical issue arises, sometimes the oncologist-nurse team responds, but very often the patient goes to the emergency department or re-hospitalization. Virtual care and RAM could reduce this frequency and urgency of these visits and returns to hospital.
