Enhancing Patient Care: Utilizing Software in Chronic Illness Management

Innovation has taken great strides over the years as technology continues to grow and shift how we live, work and care in the spaces around us. We are collecting lots of data while we witness the consumerization of healthcare grow – we are living on the cusp of an evolution and increased sophistication of clinical technology in healthcare. The advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) within companies such as Google and Amazon[1] could forge new grounds in the way we coordinate patient care. Care management is evolving and the industry is taking note.


As the world faces an unprecedented growth in chronic illnesses, technological evolutions are adopting quickly. In 2016, “1 in 4 Americans and Canadians” lost their battle to cancer. In 2007, there were “163,604 new cancer cases, this number is expected to increase by 79% by 2028, primarily due to the aging Canadian population and, to a lesser extent, population growth and changes in the risk of developing cancer”[2] This rising trend has led innovation into a new era of technological solutions to challenge this statistic.

The patient population growth and the advancement in pharma, biotech and medical devices have helped increase “five year cancer survivor rates on average to 69% compared to 49% thirty years ago”. This has in turn increased the costs of cancer care to “become the 7th costliest illness in North America” where chronic illness make up 3 of every $4 spent on healthcare. [3]  Cancer survivorship planning and management has become an area of focus as it is estimated that the current 14.5 million cancer survivors population will become 19 million in 2024.[4]  Escalating survivorship numbers due to the growing population of survivors has drawn concerns and highlighted the repercussions of cancer. The cancer experience presents itself in many ways – in the physical, emotional and mental health challenges that exist well after the disease is treated. These challenges remain due to the stress on the body, mind and the economics standings of the patients and their families.

To tackle the many repercussions caused by cancer from screening through survivorship planning, chronic care teams focus on efficient delivery of care at every stage that is also well communicated across the care team and with the patients and their families. Companies across the health IT spectrum create innovative and practical chronic illness management tools built to aid the care team and the patients manage the process seamlessly.

At Equicare, we create software that brings together information, data and education into one digital place. Our software centers on assisting staff and care teams with the necessary tools and information to care and engage with their patients. At the same time, our care system targets and works to empower patients with educational material and tools for distress management, without the paper work. We have been working with 280 cancer centers and more than a quarter of a million patients across the globe. Our team is dedicated to patient care management and we strive every day to enhance the delivery and management of care.

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[1]Partnership on AI formed by Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft,” (2016), The Guardian

[2]Predictions of the future burden of cancer in Canada,” (2015), Canadian Cancer Society

[3] “Health Care Cost Drivers,” (2013), California Association of Health Plans

[4] “Cancer Facts and Figures,” (2016), American Cancer Society

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