Expanding Access and Redefining Care Delivery
From e-Health26 Track: Next-Gen Care: Virtual Access, Real Impact
Virtual care has moved well beyond convenience and is now a critical pathway to improving access, efficiency, and outcomes across the healthcare system. But as adoption grows, so do the expectations: solutions must not only work, but scale, integrate, and reach the populations that need them most. The Next-Gen Care: Virtual Access, Real Impact Track at e-Health26 explores how virtual models are evolving from isolated innovations into essential components of modern care delivery.
Session highlights
A key theme across this Track is scale and how proven solutions move from pilot to widespread impact. In From Algorithms to Access: Scaling AI-Enabled Digital Therapeutics to Transform Canadian Health Care, Kayleigh Gordon and Donald Simmonds (VITALL) share the journey of a Health Canada–licensed digital therapeutic for heart failure that has significantly reduced hospitalizations while improving clinician productivity and patient outcomes. It offers a practical look at what it takes to bring AI-enabled care from academic innovation into real-world, system-level adoption.
At the same time, expanding access requires meeting patients where they are – not just digitally, but physically and socially. Books, Bytes and Beyond: Libraries and Community Partnerships Unlocking Virtual Care Access, presented by Nerissa Taylor (London Health Sciences Centre), highlights how community-based workshops delivered in partnership with libraries are helping bridge gaps in awareness and confidence around virtual care. With a focus on seniors, newcomers, and caregivers, the initiative demonstrates that barriers to access often extend beyond technology itself, pointing to scalable, low-cost approaches that advance digital health equity.
Internationally, there are also lessons in how virtual care can be embedded at a system level. In Learning from the UK’s “Online Hospital” Initiative: Opportunities for Canada, Samantha Liscio (Kainos) and Peter Sinden (MagicHappensHere) examine the UK’s approach to delivering digital-first healthcare services. By unpacking its design, early outcomes, and policy context, presenters will offer insight into how similar models could be adapted to enhance the Canadian patient experience, improve access, and support long-term system sustainability.
Sessions in this Track highlight a clear shift: virtual care is a foundational part of how care is delivered, accessed, and experienced. The focus now is on scaling what works, designing for inclusivity, and building systems that can support digital-first care in a meaningful and lasting way.
Review the e-Health26 Agenda
The Next-Gen Care: Virtual Access, Real Impact Track offers a closer look at how virtual care is transforming healthcare delivery. Explore the full e-Health26 Agenda to find the sessions that align with your priorities. Use the colour-coded filters to refine your view and register for the conference if you haven’t yet.
