Alberta Innovates Forms Strategic Partnership

NEWS RELEASE

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, December 7, 2022 – Alberta Blue Cross and Alberta Innovates are partnering to connect people with innovative digital health solutions to support the prevention and management of chronic disease and mental health, two of the largest contributors to the rising cost of benefit plans. There are nearly 500,000 health-related digital tools to supplement individual health and wellness, but customers do not know they exist. With so many health and well-being solutions on the market, many people face the overwhelming task of deciding what will meet their personalized needs and help improve their wellness. This partnership will aid people in that search.

This unique partnership enables select organizations offering Alberta Blue Cross employer-sponsored benefit plans to find, deploy and implement digital health solutions for their employees. This Alberta Blue Cross and Alberta Innovates pilot will narrow down which digital health vendors provide the most value and meet Alberta Blue Cross’s customers’ growing need to navigate an evolving and complex health environment.

Successful digital health solutions will be piloted for 18 to 24 months. During this time, Alberta Blue Cross will identify the biggest health concerns for its customers, and Alberta Innovates will utilize these findings to engage digital health innovators and technology vendors. This partnership will initially focus on piloting solutions for mental health and chronic disease management. These new and emerging digital health solutions will be evaluated, adopted and may be expanded to additional Alberta Blue Cross employer-sponsored benefit plans.

“Wellness initiatives are becoming a strategic and necessary way to attract and retain employees and support the sustainability of any business today,” says Mark Razzolini, vice-president of People, Wellness & Innovation with Alberta Blue Cross. “As digital and data-enabled technologies emerge in the wellness sector, we can quickly identify and integrate wellness initiatives into workforce offerings and meet the demands and needs of our evolving hybrid or remote workplaces.”

“This partnership demonstrates how digital health innovation can support the development of new models of care that address key health challenges, thereby enhancing the wellness of Albertans, and increasing the resiliency of our workforce.” says Tim Murphy, vice-president of Health with Alberta Innovates.

“Together we aim to improve health and behavioural interventions by supporting employee well-being in the workplace,” says Melanie Fuller, director of Wellness with Alberta Blue Cross. “Through new models and innovative approaches, we can solve these complex problems.”

BACKGROUND

Alberta innovates is the province’s most comprehensive research and innovation agency. From funding to commercialization, we are Alberta’s innovation engine. We foster and accelerate research and innovation to benefit citizens and drive economic growth.

Our total managed portfolio impact is $1.2 billion in value encompassing 1,320 active projects.

Alberta Innovates works across sectors to fund, partner and enable entrepreneurship throughout the province. The corporation operates in 11 locations with more than one million sq ft of industrial testing and lab facilities and 600 acres of farmland. Alberta Innovates employs 589 highly skilled scientists, business and technical professionals and has an annual operating budget of $250 million.

Learn how Alberta Innovates

Alberta Blue Cross is the largest benefits provider in Alberta and one of the largest in Western Canada. We serve more than 1.8 million members with coverage through more than 5,000 small and large employer group plans, individual plans and government-sponsored programs. In 2021, Alberta Blue Cross processed more than 71.7 million claim lines with a value exceeding $3.3 billion. Alberta-based and Alberta-grown, we provide health and wellness plans, programs and services on a viable, not-for-profit basis for the financial protection and well-being of our communities.

Visit Alberta Blue Cross or contact:

Sharmin Hislop
Director, Corporate Communications
Alberta Blue Cross
shislop@ab.bluecross.ca