March 2021 marks MedEssist’s successful completion of the Digital Main Street Lab pilot project which was first announced in January 2021. According to Joella Almeida, COO and co-founder, “We are so thankful to Digital Main Street for their support of our pilot project. We were able to accelerate our platform development and multilingual capabilities which made it possible for us to finalize two important agreements with PharmaChoice/RxHealthMed and the Ontario Pharmacists Association to bring our solution to independent pharmacies across Canada.”
MedEssist is a Toronto-based healthcare company that helps independent community pharmacies manage and coordinate medication refills, vaccinations, COVID-19 testing, and other healthcare services. By subscribing to the MedEssist application, local pharmacies are transformed into modern and comprehensive healthcare hubs for their communities.
Since they started working with Digital Main Street and Altitude Accelerator, MedEssist has been able to support more than 25 pharmacies during their pilot study in getting them the tools and training they need in order to compete with larger chain pharmacies and better serve their communities. Through this pilot, independent pharmacies were able to gain access to the platform, which also enabled high-risk patients and essential workers to be identified and matched with available inventory of flu shots, COVID tests and vaccines.
MedEssist is now able to support pharmacies with an interactive waitlist, managing unpredictable supply, triaging, multilingual documentation, unlimited appointments and messaging and employee COVID-19 screening.
“The Altitude Accelerator is pleased to have provided support and mentorship services to our client, MedEssist, as they developed their technology platform to help prepare small, independent pharmacies to participate efficiently in COVID-19 vaccine distribution,” stated Pam Banks, Executive Director of the Altitude Accelerator.
In the midst of scaling their business, cofounder Joella Alemeida, also took home the prize in this year’s Pitch With a Twist competition hosted by the University of Toronto. This competition showcases innovation and entrepreneurship from the University of Toronto, Sheridan College, and the greater community. Focusing on early-stage ventures, they bring together innovators from a variety of sectors to pitch their businesses for cash prizes and in-kind support. MedEssist was also recently accepted as part of Ryerson Venture Zone’s first Incubator cohort focusing on health and wellness giving them the opportunity to present their solutions to prominent industry players such as Dynacare, William Osler Health System, SE Health and more!
We can’t wait to see you grow- learn more about registering as a client today!
About Digital Main Street
Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve digital transformation. The program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and a Digital Service Squad, a team of street-level team members who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through technology.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association on Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, Facebook, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, and Yellow Pages. A $42.5 investment from FedDev Ontario and an additional $7.45 million from the Government of Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa, and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses to go digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19.
About the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA)
The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) is a non-profit umbrella organization working with the 84 Business Improvement Areas within the City of Toronto, who in turn represent more than 40,000 business and property owners.
About Altitude Accelerator
Altitude Accelerator is a not-for-profit innovation hub and business incubator serving the Peel Region and Southern Ontario. Altitude Accelerator’s focus is to be a dynamic catalyst for tech companies. The team consists of more than 100 expert advisors, industry, academic and government partners. Altitude Accelerator helps companies in Advanced Manufacturing, Internet of Things, Hardware & Software, Cleantech and Life Sciences to commercialize their products and get them to market faster.
About FedDev Ontario
For more than 10 years, FedDev Ontario has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth in Canada’s most populous region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects.