MCI Onehealth and Oro Health Collaborate to Launch New Teledermatology Platform

TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MCI Onehealth Technologies Inc. (“MCI”) (TSX: DRDR), a clinician-led healthcare technology company focused on increasing access to and quality of healthcare, and Oro Health, a provider of Asynchronous Telemedicine combined with artificial intelligence-based solutions for medical specialists, today announced the launch of collaboratively developed MCI Dermatology Connect. The launch of MCI Dermatology Connect will help meet the need of Ontarians currently waiting for a consultation on minor dermatological conditions, lessen wait times and increase Ontarians’ access to Dermatologists regardless of geographic constraints.

“Quick, convenient access to specialists with top-quality continuity of care is a cornerstone of the patient experience in MCI’s high performance healthcare network. This collaboration with Oro Health expands our convenient virtual care offering and accelerates access to specialty care,” said Dr. Alexander Dobranowski, CEO of MCI. “Additionally, this innovative platform creates a unique draw for the recruitment of specialists to our network, so that even more patients can be given the care they need quickly. MCI is firmly committed to our mission to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and ultimately safer and we’re grateful for innovative partners like Oro Health who share this goal.”

The MCI Dermatology Connect platform provides specific solutions needed for virtual dermatology care, including secure transfer of high-resolution imaging between patient and specialist. The innovative platform utilizes Oro Health technology that employs dynamic intelligent triage, facilitating swift categorization and assessment of a patient’s dermatological condition. Integrated tools such as predefined templates for prescriptions, diagnosis and treatment, cultivates a streamlined care environment for both MCI patients and practitioners. Moreover, asynchronous teledermatology eliminates the necessity for set appointments between the patient and physician, widening the possibilities for swift physician response and the delivery of appropriate care, leading to expected improvements in patient experience and health outcomes. The collaboration accelerates MCI’s vision to transform primary care delivery with precision medicine technologies, novel referral optimization and custom tech-forward initiatives.

“We are excited to collaborate with MCI Onehealth and provide our technology to enable a new teledermatology online consultation service for Ontario-based patients awaiting faster and broader access to dermatological care,” said Dr. Emilie Bourgeault, CEO of Oro Health, BSc., M.D., Dermatologist (FRCPC).

MCI is already a leader in the virtual/telehealth care sector with 300,000 annual patient visits via telephone or MCI’s general health virtual platform, MCI Connect. This collaboration with Oro Health demonstrates MCI’s continued commitment to the expansion of technology-enabled care. In the absence of more providers and resources, greater technological innovation, clinical efficiency and data that is used well can flag gaps in care, target patients for services they’re behind on, provide patients with more options, and help reduce health system costs.

MCI has built a first-of-its-kind model in community healthcare that is right now demonstrating efficiencies and improving patient access in ways that has not been demonstrated before in Canadian healthcare. MCI’s tech and data-enabled high-performance healthcare network helps address urgent health system issues: remedying system backlogs for patient services, providing greater access to care and diagnostics, providing high-quality continuity of care, speeding time to specialist referrals, identifying optimal care pathways, while accelerating research that supports new health treatments and products.

“MCI’s high-performance healthcare network of patient-facing services allows it to build a much richer and deeper patient profile. Our collaboration with Oro Health, a leader in Asynchronous Telemedicine with image-based AI-driven triaging, will lead to future opportunities to enhance that patient profile, make care more personalized and preventative, and expand the scope of data-driven insights,” added Dobranowski.

Currently, MCI provides data insights as a service in six categories: rare disease; complex major medical/chronic; patient cohort building; clinical trial recruitment; synthetic health data and bespoke insights. Such services are targeted at pharmaceutical companies, life science companies, precision medicine companies and top-tier university centres.

About MCI

MCI is a healthcare technology company focused on empowering patients and doctors with advanced technologies to increase access, improve quality, and reduce healthcare costs. As part of the healthcare community for over 30 years, MCI operates one of Canada’s leading primary care networks with nearly 260 physicians and specialists, serves more than one million patients annually and had nearly 300,000 telehealth visits last year, including online visits via . MCI additionally offers an expanding suite of occupational health service offerings that support a growing list of nearly 600 corporate customers. Led by a proven management team of doctors and experienced executives, MCI remains focused on executing a strategy centered around acquiring technology and health services that complement the company’s current roadmap. For more information, visit .

About Oro Health

Oro Health offers artificial intelligence-based solutions for medical specialists looking to leverage the full potential of technology. By improving the quality and rapidity of care, physicians offer patients better access to their expertise, in a data secured environment, at the time and place of their choosing. Oro Health’s mission is to improve the daily lives of patients and physicians through innovative technological solutions to ensure quality and efficiency in healthcare. For more information, please visit .

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Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, constitute “forward-looking information” and "forward looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and are based on assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the anticipated health benefits, cost savings and other advantages of MCI’s collaboration with Oro Health, and references to other similar programs that are underway. The words “to increase”, “potentially”, “to help”, “expect”, “estimate”, “underway”, “expand”, “accelerate”, “create”, “goal”, “possibility” or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain future conditions, actions, events or results “will”, “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “might” or “can”, or negative versions thereof, “occur”, “continue” or “be achieved”, and other similar expressions, identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon management’s perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as a number of specific factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by MCI as of the date of such statements, are outside of MCI's control and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, including, but not limited to, the following: MCI’s ability to maintain its relationships and continue to implement its collaborations with ORO Health and other potential collaborators; the effects of competition in the industry; the requirement for increasingly innovative product solutions and service offerings; trends in customer growth; sufficiency of current working capital to support future operating and working capital requirements; the stability of general economic and market conditions; currency exchange rates and interest rates; MCI's ability to comply with applicable laws and regulations; MCI's continued compliance with third party intellectual property rights; the anticipated effects of COVID-19; and that the risk factors noted below, collectively, do not have a material impact on MCI's business, operations, revenues and/or results. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved.

Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of MCI, could cause the actual results of MCI to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include but are not limited to those factors which are discussed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in MCI's annual information form dated March 31, 2022, which is available under MCI's SEDAR profile at . The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect MCI and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management’s expectations and plans relating to the future. MCI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements.