The Future of Stroke Transport Systems
is Here.
— Marie Williams, CAE (Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, Executive Director)
Our Story
DESTINE Health was born out of a research project at the University of Calgary in conjunction with the Calgary Stroke Program. Dr. Jessalyn Holodinsky and Dr. Noreen Kamal spent 3 years researching the best transportation system for patients with large vessel occlusion stroke (one of the most serious types of stroke) to access advanced treatments.
After their innovative solution to the stroke transport problem gained wide international attention in the stroke community Drs. Holodinsky and Kamal decided it was time to take the next step and turn their research into an online interactive software. DESTINE Health was founded in 2018 and since then has helped healthcare systems worldwide transform their stroke transport systems for the better.
Meet The Founders
Noreen Kamal, PEng, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Noreen is an engineer and researcher with a specialization in interactive visual analytics and human-computer interaction. She brings years of experience in private industry and over a decade of experience in improving health care systems.
Jessalyn Holodinsky, PhD
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Executive Officer
Jessalyn is an epidemiologist specializing in predictive modelling for stroke outcomes. She developed the science behind DESTINE as part of her PhD dissertation. She has since become a sought after speaker in the area of acute ischemic stroke patient transport for local and international conferences.
Every Second Counts
Deciding on the right strategy for accessing endovascular therapy is a matter of life and limb for ischemic stroke patients. Should stroke patients be taken to a distant endovascular centre or is it best to receive early alteplase at a nearer centre? Selecting the first destination hospital for these patients is complex and depends on geography and hospital efficiency. Every minute you spend thinking about what to do with a stroke patient – the brain is actively dying. There is no time to waste, a decision support tool is needed.
Taking Stroke Systems One Step Further
DESTINE allows you to view your stroke system with interactive visualizations; taking complex stroke transport decision making and simplifying it into an easy to read colour coded map. DESTINE’s sophisticated algorithms incorporate the progression of the disease with geographic and health system variables, giving you confidence that your endovascular therapy access strategy is evidence-based. Optimizing your stroke system will lead to significant savings of downstream healthcare costs by maximizing good patient outcomes and getting more patients home to their families.
Our Software
Our software is a secure, web-based, mapping application that you can use from your preferred web browser to visualize stroke transport protocols in your region. You can adjust parameters, like ambulance on scene time and hospital service times, to show the transport protocols that will result in optimal patient outcomes. The generated map shows you stroke outcomes on a grid-by-grid basis, with the ability to see areas with poor access to services and highlight differences in pre-hospital transport of taking patients to the closest hospital compared to the optimized destination hospital provided by the DESTINE's algorithm. Updates such as new features and bug fixes are quick and consistent; custom features can be added based on the needs of your region.
If you give us...
- The locations and treatment capabilities of your hospitals
We can show you...
- The areas where mothership, drip and ship, drip and drive, or any other transport option you can think of will result in best patient outcomes
- The catchment area of each hospital
- The impact of changing door to needle, door in door out, and door to puncture times on best transport option and predicted patient outcomes
- The impact of adding, removing, or changing a hospital in your system
- And so much more
See what DESTINE can do for your health system today
Our Clients
Scientific Advisory Committee
Dr. Michael Hill
Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary; Stroke Neurologist, Foothills Medical Centre
Dr. Ryan McTaggart
Associate Professor Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Director Interventional Radiology
Dr. Mahesh Jayaraman
Associate Professor, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Director Neurovascular Center; Sr Member, Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery
Dr. Michael Mazya
Consultant in Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital; Chair, Swedish Acute Neurology Society
Dr. Bijoy Menon
Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary; Stroke Neurologist, Foothills Medical Centre
Awards
2021 Social Innovation Winner
Global Healthcare Innovation Academy
2019 Social Innovation Winner
W21C Innovation Academy
2018/2019 Prime Cohort
CDL Rockies
