Arslan Idrees
Digital Transformation Officer, SE Health
For over 100 years, SE Health has been providing quality services to Canadians across many different areas of health care — home and community care, long-term care, acute care and family caregiving.
Building on its renowned history, knowledge and expertise, the non-profit social enterprise is taking an innovative and future-focused approach to health care by embracing digital health resources.
“We’re bringing forward bold new ways of thinking and approaches to problem solving, creating an environment that attracts the best talent and using solutions that will help us serve more Canadians in a cost-effective manner” says Arslan Idrees, SE’s Digital Transformation Officer. “SE Health is known for excellence in care, and now using digital as a foundation, we are ensuring both greater efficiency and better outcomes for our clients,” he says.
A streamlined experience
Though these two concepts may seem mutually exclusive, Idrees explains “the key is to reduce digital friction across the whole ecosystem and ultimately offer a streamlined experience for both patient and provider.”
SE Health is doing that in many ways. “We’re streamlining access methods, focusing on open solutions, which makes integration easier with partners upstream and downstream,” says Idrees. SE Health has also invested heavily in cyber-security, recognizing that with more possibilities to share information, comes new possibilities for information breaches.
They have also invested in engagement with patients, families, caregivers, and care providers across the healthcare continuum. “We recognize we have much to learn and teach each other in order to achieve the goal of a frictionless experience for everyone,” says Idrees. Finally, SE Health is enabling all parties to make informed decisions by providing them with the right information at the right time.
We’re […] creating an environment that attracts the best talent and using solutions that will help us serve more Canadians in a cost-effective manner.
Arslan Idrees, SE Health
Digital health in home care
There is a huge amount of data that exists across the health care continuum, from hospitals to long term care, to home care. Using new technology in a way that is frictionless for patients as well as health care providers opens opportunities to trend data, learn from it, and ultimately provide value to people and the system.
SE Health is using technology and data to better support clients and their families in a few new ways. Elizzbot, launched by SE Health’s family caregiver brand Elizz in 2018, is one example. This friendly chatbot was developed in partnership with X2AI, and is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Elizzbot provides emotional support, information, and comfort to family caregivers through an interactive online conversation.
For more than 8 million family caregivers in Canada, many of whom feel overwhelmed by caring for friends or family, Elizzbot is a non-judgemental, easily accessible mobile resource they can use anytime, anywhere. By letting people pour out their emotions in a safe place, free from fear of stigma, Elizzbot is empowering family caregivers to take control of their mental health and self care, while helping to reduce healthcare costs. SE Health is also harnessing the power of voice technology, using a digital assistant to support the aging population through daily voice check-ins and medication monitoring.
Visit SE Health to learn more about its services and innovations, or you can chat with Elizzbot!
