Telus announced Monday a collaboration with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Badal — a cloud and data analytics services company acquired by Telus in 2023 — to deploy advancements to the Sayhut app, a secure, privacy-compliant point-of-care smartphone app that helps to reduce diagnostic time for patients who may be experiencing a heart attack due to a blocked artery.
The app improves the speed and accuracy of communication between first responders, emergency doctors and interventional cardiologists at regional cardiac centres by enabling instant transfer of patient data via the app, allowing medical personnel to securely send electrocardiogram (ECG) images to care teams, leading to quicker diagnoses and better patient outcomes, a Telus press release explains.
Originally conceived by Drs. Hassan Mir and Talha Syed, the Sayhut app is already implemented in 15 hospitals in southwestern Ontario with the support of Badal. Recent funding from the Ontario Centre of Innovation has enabled the implementation of the app in three additional large hospitals in Ottawa, the release says, adding the app is now expanding to more hospitals and networks across Canada.
“The relationship between care and survival in patients experiencing a heart attack can be measured in minutes,” said Dr. Mir, an academic cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, in a statement. “Our research demonstrates how implementation of the tool in select regions in Ontario has significantly improved the timing and accuracy of care, freeing up valuable time and hospital resources. Our team is optimistic about the potential of this digital innovation to streamline communication and patient referral pathways in communities across Canada and beyond.”
A key component of the current and next version of the app is the cloud infrastructure designed by Badal, which leverages Google’s cloud platform, according to the press release. Telus is also collaborating to help scale the technology for expanded deployment in Canada and internationally, the release says.
“With Badal, TELUS is furthering its commitment to leverage technology as a transformative tool to improve business and consumer outcomes, and in this case patient outcomes,” said Jayne Landry, senior vice president of industry products and technology at Telus, in the release. “Harnessing the power of data, analytics and the cloud is pivotal to our mission of driving innovation and delivering exceptional service. The Sayhut application is a great example of digital transformation within the healthcare industry, enhancing efficiency, accuracy and performance, and ultimately bettering the lives of patients.”
Development is underway to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and enhance the app’s capabilities by leveraging Google’s Cloud AI technology — an approach Badal is taking not just for the Sayhut app, but also across various initiatives at Telus Health to improve patient outcomes, Telus says.
“The team plans to design models, trained on thousands of ECGs and existing medical frameworks, to assist in the timely and accurate identification of heart attacks,” Telus’s press release says. “Once built, the models will support medical personnel by prioritizing communication and patient transfer based on the AI’s review of the patient’s ECG. It is important to note however that the app is designed to augment, not replace, medical professionals’ expertise and judgment, ensuring that final diagnoses and treatment decisions remain firmly in the hands of qualified healthcare providers.”
