the health technologies fund (htf) supports the development of made-in-ontario health technologies by accelerating evaluation, procurement, adoption and diffusion in the ontario health system. the fund is part of the office of the chief health innovation strategist’s mandate to strengthen ontario’s innovation ecosystem.
the htf fosters partnerships between publicly funded health care service providers, patients, academia and industry to drive collaboration that improves patient outcomes, adds value to the health system and creates jobs in ontario.
how the program works
the htf will support health innovation teams (hits) in evaluating and demonstrating innovative technologies in healthcare settings across the province. hits are interdisciplinary and collaborative teams made up of:
- applicant (mandatory): one or more provider(s) of publicly funded health care services. eligible health care system applicants include (but are not limited to) family health teams, community care providers, long-term care homes, local health integration networks (lhins) and hospitals. the health care provider defines the problem statement, and commits to providing the clinical setting in which the innovative technology will be evaluated, including patient engagement, clinicians and operations support and, procurement expertise
- technology partner (mandatory): an ontario-based, for-profit health technology business providing an innovative solution to the problem statement. partners may be of any size or stage (start-up, small- to medium-sized enterprise, multinational enterprise) with a research and development, and/or manufacturing presence in ontario. (if no technology partner is identified at the time of problem statement intake form submission, the project will be considered for partnership development and future application rounds.)
- co-applicant (strongly recommended): academic researchers with expertise in technology adoption and diffusion, design and implementation, or health economics.
hits may apply for one of three streams:
stream i: prototype: projects in stream i will pilot a new health technology product or service in an ontario health-care setting for the first time. in stream i, hits will collaborate to validate the utility of a new technology at a pilot-scale. hits may initiate a stream i project with a minimum viable product (mvp) and rapidly develop and test new iterations based on user feedback.
the end result of a stream i project is a new technology that has proof of its potential value in ontario’s health care system with emphasis on clinician and patient feedback, which is ready for larger-scale evaluation.
stream ii: pre-market evaluation: projects in stream ii will demonstrate a validated technology in a health care setting. in stream ii, hits will collaborate to implement their product in a health care setting. funding will support activities including training and change management of clinical workflows and routines. the end results from this stream include: a market-ready product, a rigorous clinical trial/field evaluation at one or multiple sites that studies efficacy, clinical utility and safety of the health technology; an economic analysis that examines the cost effectiveness of the technology and potential cost savings to the health system; and an adoption plan that articulates the systems and processes required for wide-scale adoption of the technology.
activities from stream ii should result in clinical and economic evidence that supports adoption and procurement of the technology by ontario health care providers.
stream iii: early adoption: projects in stream iii will implement a validated technology across multiple health care settings, expanding the clinical and economic evidence for the solution in support of value-based procurement. in stream iii, hits will develop a wide-scale adoption plan outlining new approaches, information, and tools to help expand the use of promising technologies that have already been implemented and evaluated across one or more sites and settings (where applicable).
activities may include scaling training, establishing standards to facilitate integration into broader health system (e.g., other jurisdictions, etc.). hits will also develop an innovation procurement plan for participating health service providers.
outputs from this stream include successful adoption at multiple sites demonstrating consistent system-wide results and a report on the changes in practice and knowledge transfer required to successfully adopt the new technology.
oce will accept problem statement intake forms to the htf beginning july 4, 2016. problem statements can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed as indicated below. subsequent intake dates may be announced.
activity
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timeline
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call for problem statement intake forms
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open july 4, 2016 and can be submitted at any time.
*see link to problem statement intake form in the ‘how to apply’ section.
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problem statement intake form deadline
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september 16, 2016
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notification to proceed to full application
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september 26, 2016
*applicants will be notified of eligibility to the htf stream most appropriate for the project. full applications will be initiated and submitted through oce’s accessoce, an online application portal.
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full application deadline
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october 26, 2016
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award notification
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december 1, 2016
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