Covenant Health is navigating growing pressures in its surgical operations and pre-admission processes. These include underutilized OR time, long surgical waitlists, delays in clinically urgent cases, frequent last-minute schedule changes, variability in pre-operative patient optimization, opportunities to strengthen patient education, and consults that are sometimes missed or misdirected. Together, these challenges limit system capacity, increase costs, and contribute to unutilized OR time that represents a loss of valuable resources. Addressing them will help enhance operational efficiency, support providers, and improve overall system performance.
Covenant Health is posting this Call for Innovation to seek out qualified Canadian companies who can meet the following desired outcomes. Covenant Health and CAN Health reserves the right to not move forward with this project at its full discretion and in particular if there are no qualified Canadian companies that can reasonably meet the desired outcomes.
To qualify for a CAN Health project, the company must meet ALL the following criteria:
- Headquartered in Canada (additional criteria apply for companies not headquartered in Canada)
- Majority ownership of both the company and the solution by Canadians
- Solution at Technology Readiness Level (TRL)>7, indicating actual technology completed and qualified through tests and demonstrations
- All the data and AI models (if applicable) must be hosted in Canada and comply with all the Canadian privacy regulations
- Possess all regulatory approvals required for commercialization, such as Health Canada approval
- Completion of all required clinical validity/unity studies
- No need for policy changes to be widely adopted
- Strong use cases in the Canadian healthcare system.
If the company is not headquartered in Canada or the solution is not majority owned by Canadians, additional criteria apply:
- Independent autonomy over business operations and product development (for subsidiaries, affiliates or distributors)
- High Canadian job creation potential, especially in executive and senior management positions
- Commitment of over 70% of contract value to Canada.
During the company selection process, preference is given to companies/solutions fully owned by Canadians, followed by those majority owned by Canadians, and finally international companies with a significant presence and economic impact in Canada.
For more information on the Call for Innovation process and the commercialization projects funded by CAN Health Network, please refer to the FAQ page on the CAN Health Network website: https://canhealthnetwork.ca/faq/
Problem Statement:
Covenant Health is facing critical operational challenges due to the absence of an integrated, data-driven solution for surgical scheduling and pre-admission processes. Inefficiencies such as underused OR time, prolonged waitlists, inadequate patient readiness, and frequent scheduling disruptions are straining system capacity, increasing costs, and negatively impacting patient outcomes.
Objectives:
Implement an AI-driven solution to optimize surgical booking and pre-admission processes by leveraging predictive analytics and real-time data. The goal is to improve OR utilization, reduce surgical wait times, minimize cancellations, and enhance patient readiness and outcomes. This solution will analyze historical and real-time scheduling data, resource availability, and patient health information to generate optimized OR schedules, proactively manage waitlists, assess surgical readiness, and deliver personalized education and reminders. A pilot implementation at a single facility will validate the system’s effectiveness, with integration into existing EMR and scheduling platforms, and full compliance with data privacy standards.
Essential (mandatory) outcomes:
- Acquisition of advanced AI software and supporting hardware for system deployment and integration.
- Comprehensive training for clinical and administrative staff to effectively utilize the new system.
- Establishment of support structures for system maintenance, including software updates and technical assistance.
- Implementation of robust data governance policies and resources to ensure data quality, security, and compliance with relevant regulations.
Additional outcomes:
- Increased OR utilization by minimizing scheduling gaps through AI-driven optimization
- Reduced surgical wait times by prioritizing cases based on urgency and resource availability
- Timely accommodation of emergent cases with minimal disruption to planned surgeries
- Lower operational costs through improved resource utilization and reduced idle OR time
- Reduced administrative burden on staff through automation of scheduling and readiness assessments
- Improved patient readiness for surgery, decreasing the likelihood of cancellations and complications
- Better surgical outcomes and faster recovery through personalized education and preparation
- Enhanced patient adherence to pre- and post-operative instructions via tailored communication
- Increased cost savings from fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and reduced readmissions
- Overall improvement in efficiency, care quality, and patient outcomes within surgical services at Covenant Health
Covenant Health faces ongoing inefficiencies in surgical scheduling and pre-admission, leading to delays, higher costs, and poorer outcomes. AI-driven solutions offer a clear path to streamline operations, improve readiness, and enhance surgical care delivery.
