The REACH (Resources for Evaluating, Adopting and Capitalizing on Innovative Healthcare Technology) Program supports Ontario health care provider organizations to utilize innovation-based procurement methodologies to more effectively identify and procure innovative health care technology products and services.
The identification and procurement of innovative technology products and services by the health care sector has potential to improve the quality of patient care and create long-term value for money. It also stimulates innovation within the economy by enabling the market to respond to current and future public service needs. When purchasing organizations are procuring products, it has been common practice to issue public tenders based on detailed product specifications and financial terms. However, overly-detailed specifications often restrict the solutions that vendors propose, and which vendors qualify, resulting in only incremental improvements rather than step-change innovation.
Support through the REACH program will enable health care provider organizations to:
- Effectively identify and procure innovative technologies focused on solving priority system challenges.
- Build internal capacity and expertise in applying alternative methods of procurement.
- Share knowledge and best practices in innovation procurement with peer organizations
- Be seen as an innovation leader in Ontario and globally.
Public sector innovation-based Procurement projects are intended to build capacity within public healthcare delivery organizations and medtech innovators to use outcome-based specifications and, when evidence justifies, lead directly to procurement of innovation. REACH funding will support the entire process of innovation procurement, including any field evaluation studies required to test the identified technology and/or service within an Ontario public healthcare delivery organization. Medtech innovators cannot formally be involved until they respond to a request for qualifications (or similar) once the project is underway.
The REACH Program is currently accepting applications from publicly funded health care provider organizations in Ontario.