“I know we can do better.” Mark McAllister felt healthcare data was too inaccessible to the public and was confident that we could change how people access this vital information. The result was VeroSource, a Fredericton-based firm launched in 2014 with a vision for putting healthcare information in the hands of people and families.
The VeroSource Platform is an “end-to-end, customizable, cloud-based solution that enables people, clinicians, and decision-makers to seamlessly access and work with healthcare data.” This innovative technology first made waves in 2018 thanks to a project called MyLabsNB, which saw VeroSource partner with GNB and a clinician to help a cohort of diabetics access their health information. “We built a first-of-its-kind system to help people access their health data in real time to manage a chronic disease,” says McAllister, VeroSource CEO and Co-Founder. “Our work on that earned us an invite to ACCESS Atlantic, an initiative of Canada Health Infoway, to serve as an industry champion.”
Pandemic response
That new connection proved vital as COVID-19 hit Canada in 2020. Thanks to its established ability to provide secure health data, Canada Health Infoway spread the word about VeroSource’s capabilities. “They let people know we were a company that could get timely healthcare info into more hands,” notes McAllister. “The result was a rapidly deployed COVID-19 test result solution for New Brunswickers. Based on that and the reputation we built with Infoway and other stakeholders, we were introduced to Shared Health Manitoba, ultimately delivering a COVID-19 test solution for Manitobans that May.”
He says New Brunswick has been forward thinking in the way it worked with VeroSource to evolve a COVID-19-specific application into an expansive digital health ‘digital front door’ platform, MyHealthNB. Through MyHealthNB, patients can now access more of their health information. That includes information on lab results, diagnostic imaging, prescriptions, and immunizations. It allows users to generate a full patient summary, which can be easily shared with healthcare professionals anywhere in the world.
New Brunswick is being recognized
He says that while everyone acknowledges the provincial healthcare system has challenges, we should not lose sight of our potential. “There is still work to be done in healthcare, but when I attend national conferences, New Brunswick is looked at as a leader in digital health. People are noting things like MyHealthNB and the work we are doing at VeroSource, and they’re impressed. We have implemented a new standard where you can use a simple QR code to share a summary of your health record with any clinician in the world. New Brunswick is the first jurisdiction in North America to implement something like this. And we’re seeing other jurisdictions looking to us as a leader in this space. This province should be proud of our innovations in the digital health space and the recognition we’re seeing.”
Enter HEALWELL AI
Digital health leader HEALWELL AI certainly took notice of New Brunswick’s innovations. June 2024 saw the Toronto-based firm announce it had acquired VeroSource and its platform. McAllister says his team is eager to leverage HEALWELL’s reach to further expand its footprint, client base, and export capacity. “We had several suitors, but the appeal of HEALWELL was the shared vision. They’re empowering people, unlocking the potential of digital health, and are founder-friendly; they buy companies and don’t try to change them,” he says. “VeroSource is still VeroSource and will remain a proudly New Brunswick-based firm.”
New Brunswick support
McAllister says ONB support has helped the company grow its team and reach new clients and partners including HEALWELL AI. “ONB helped facilitate the HEALWELL connection for us while at a conference in Toronto. Our ONB connections were vital in helping us build the trust that ultimately led to the HEALWELL acquisition. We also just finished a payroll rebate initiative which helped us grow the team in New Brunswick, and ONB market development support has helped us build a better online presence, attend key healthcare events, and access scale-up programs like Scale-Up Hub Atlanta. We have had a great relationship with ONB and I expect that to continue as we investigate exporting beyond Canada.”
He says 2025 will be about exporting its made-in-NB intellectual property, growing its team, and continuing to serve its original clients in New Brunswick. “Our biggest client remains right here in our backyard. We plan to continue helping this province be a leader in digital health. Our friends and family use the things we’ve built and that’s incredibly rewarding. We look forward to seeing the many ways HEALWELL AI and its reach will help us grow in exciting ways.”
Learn more at https://www.verosource.com/.
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