Mission promoted by CCBC takes Brazilians to learn how the Canadian hospital system works, and opens the possibility of bilateral cooperation

By Sérgio Siscaro

Last month experts and representatives of the Brazilian hospital sector had the opportunity to get a closer look at how the Canadian health system works. The international mission Health Innovation Canada, promoted by the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada (CCBC) in partnership with Quality Global Alliance (QGA) between September 17 and 24, took a group of 11 participants to visit hospitals in Toronto and Montreal and learn how the management system and the integration of technology to the hospital sector are applied in Canada.

The participants visited hospitals and health innovation hubs in both cities and had contact with companies that develop innovative solutions for the sector. “Canada is a reference in this area. In addition to the visits to the hospitals, meetings were also held with companies that develop technologies for the health sector, in addition to agencies linked to public administration,” comments CCBC’s international business consultant, Armínio Calonga Jr.

Innovation in action

The hospital centers visited during the mission included, among others, the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (Chum), considered the most innovative Canadian hospital of 2021; the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), one of the largest and most modern health centers in North America; and the Humber River Hospital, which opened its doors to the delegation, showing its activities developed in the areas of technology and management.

In this way, the mission participants were able to see, in practice, how the most modern hospital centers in Canada work. “The objective of the mission was precisely to learn more about the technologies that improve both management and the relationship between doctor and patient. Presentations were also made showing how various aspects of hospital routine – such as waiting time in queues, the duration of surgeries, patient care and the correct destination of patients within hospitals, for example – are positively affected by the introduction of innovative solutions,” says the CCBC consultant.

Bilateral collaboration

Although not conceived as a trade mission, Health Innovation Canada may enable institutions and companies from the two countries to come closer together – promoting the exchange of best management practices and the introduction of innovative technologies, for example.

“One of the Canadian partners in the mission mentioned the issue of good practices in the area of care for the older population, in addition to the use of digital platforms for the control of clinical activities. These are some of the points that would have potential for synergy between Brazilian and Canadian institutions”, says Calonga Jr. He points out that possibilities for cooperation and bilateral partnership with one of the hospitals that participated in the mission may arise in the medium term.

Positive evaluation

For CCBC’s Commercial Intelligence coordinator, Beatriz Calegare, the evaluation of the mission was very positive among the participants. “We noticed that they were very pleased to be able to explore the Canadian ecosystem as a whole, to enter hospitals and see how things work there. And, following the objective of the mission, to see how technology is applied in the daily lives of doctors and patients”.

Health Innovation Canada was an initiative of the Health Innovation Commission (CIS) of the CCBC, in conjunction with the QGA, an entity focused on accrediting institutions in the sector, and was supported by the governments of Canada and Quebec. The Chamber is now preparing an event to disseminate the results of the mission, to be held in November – when the new edition of the initiative, which should take place in the second half of 2023, will be announced.