Michael Omidele witnessed firsthand how essential digital medical records are to improving patient outcomes: he lost a close family member as a result of a medical records mix up in his home country of Nigeria.
This loss, combined with Omidele’s background in healthcare, fuelled his desire to create a solution.
After moving from Nigeria to Alberta in 2010, the entrepreneur applied knowledge from his computer network engineering degree to build experience through stints at IBM and Alberta Health Services. By 2020, Omidele had the expertise and confidence he needed to launch a tech startup.
Omidele’s answer to outdated healthcare is Clinify, a medical data platform designed specifically for Africa’s healthcare system.
“Data is the smartest way to effect real change,” believes the founder. ”Using data to drive healthcare efficiency is the best way to improve patient outcomes.”
Clinify is a one-stop-shop connecting all actors in the system, he says—from healthcare providers like hospitals and clinics to health insurance companies, patients, and physicians.
It is a centralized platform that ensures the advancement of healthcare delivery for the entire continent of Africa, according to a statement from local investment firm Thin Air Labs, which recently invested in the Calgary company.
Electronic records management has a controversial history in North America, where cost savings and patient outcomes have not necessarily improved with the advent of digital technology, as author Nicolas Carr observed in his breakthrough book on automation’s complex balance of risk and reward, The Glass Cage.
However, Africa is in a different situation than Canada, with distinct healthcare standards. Omidele posits that there is much tech can solve across this vast region.
“It is my calling to get this idea out to a continent that would benefit so much from it,” Omidele says.
For example, there simply aren’t enough doctors in the country, he notes—a long-standing problem with no current effective solutions. The ratio of physicians to patients can improve through tele-health, Omidele affirms, which is part of Clinify’s offerings.
“Our mission is to change the way physicians and patients interact while improving quality of care delivered at a lower overall cost,” the startup states online. “Our proprietary platform and use of technology, clinical activities, and predictive modelling of medical and socioeconomic risk factors allows us proactively address gaps in care in dynamic and innovative ways.”
Omidele wants to digitally centralize health records with an ultimate vision to leverage data-driven insight to enable healthcare delivery for Africa’s 1.4 billion people. And now he has the capital to do it.
Clinify this month secured a total of US$1.5 million to advance its platform and market reach. Thin Air contributed the bulk of capital through its Thin Air Labs Fund I, with help from Toronto’s HaloHealth and other strategic angel investors.
“We can’t wait to see the meaningful human impact Clinify will have in Africa and the investment return that will follow,” stated Leah Sarich, Head of Public Relations for Thin Air Labs.
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