Second Largest Canadian Telecom Operator Launches $100 Million Health Technology Network

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - Canada's second largest telecom operator, Telus, announced Tuesday it will invest $100 million over the next three years to develop a new health technology network which will involve medical records sharing.

Telus earlier purchased this year Emergis, an electronic commerce company based in Montreal for $763 million. Emergis is the provider of software for management of health care records, drug bills and other data in the pharmaceutical and health care industry.

The branching off to health technology network is part of Telus' strategy to diversify amid the tighter competition in the IT industry. To handle that business will be a new unit, Telus Health Solutions, which has 1,500 employees.

Joe Natale, president of Telus Business Solutions, told the Canadian Press, "The transformation of healthcare in Canada is a huge undertaking that will take many hands... Business and government must make significant investments. We are serious about making a difference in Canadian healthcare with applications and technology infrastructure that collects, processes, stores and delivers health information."

According to a survey released by Telus, 55 percent of Canadians track their medical history through paper files, 33 percent does it electronically and 25 percent rely on their memory.