BC Centre for Excellence in HIV /AIDS pioneers new technology, redefines treatment

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA - Feb 25, 2014 - The British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV /AIDS (BC-CfE) at St. Paul's Hospital is pioneering new technology from PHEMI Health Systems and SAP AG to accelerate the treatment and improve the outcome for patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.  The BC-CfE is rolling out powerful big data technology used to deliver personalized medicine based on the genetic signature of the virus that infects each patient.

"We're changing the face of treatment for HIV and AIDS," said Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.  "This technology is invaluable to the lives of our patients. We constantly strive to improve patient outcomes. Eliminating the clinical-research divide is key to improving patient care and advancing our research. For the first time, we can access vast amounts of information and get answers immediately while maintaining full privacy and security thanks to the technology from PHEMI and SAP."

The technology platform for the BC Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS will be based on the PHEMI Central Digital Asset Library, a healthcare data warehouse, and SAP HANA, an in-memory computing platform. PHEMI Central will be used to store, archive and govern the research and clinical information in a healthcare-specific data warehouse that is embedded with 'Privacy by Design' capabilities. By combining technology from PHEMI and SAP, the companies will deliver an advanced, personalized and private health care platform.

 "Over 70% of healthcare information is unstructured and difficult to mine for relevant insight using traditional methods," said Dr. Paul Terry, CEO of PHEMI Health Systems. "PHEMI changes that.  What we're offering now, essentially, is the ability to turn virtually any piece of patient information - physician letters, lab results, imaging, medication, previous treatment plans - into searchable information, thereby unlocking vast amounts of new data for clinicians, analysts and researchers to extract insights from."

 "Canadian businesses have been statistically proven as chronically slow to adopt new technology compared to their global competitors, even when it comes to something as important as improving lives in such a significant way. Our partnership with PHEMI and the work we do with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is a great proof point that forward thinking Canadian companies, taking bold actions, can lead the world in their industries.  We're now able to provide physicians and researchers a much faster way of treating patients. Together, we plan on lowering healthcare costs by speeding up treatment plans, improving patient care, and addressing chronic disease as a whole," said Bob Elliott, Managing Director for SAP Canada.  

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is Canada's largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility and is internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV and AIDS. SAP currently supports an HIV/AIDS education and prevention programme in South Africa, which focuses on HIV/AIDS research, health promotion and education of the population in the Southern Cape community. The company also provides technology to the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation to manage their business systems and keep up with organizational growth, which was recently at 90%.

About PHEMI
PHEMI Health Systems is a process automation and Big Data platform company that unlocks patient data to improve clinic productivity, patient outcomes, and medical research.  The PHEMI team architected PHEMI Clinical and PHEMI Central from the ground up specifically for healthcare, fully incorporating the 7 foundational principles of Privacy by Design as applied to Big Data. For more information, please visit http://www.phemi.com.

About the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada's largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility and is internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV/AIDS and related diseases. BC-CfE is based at St. Paul's Hospital, Providence Health Care, a teaching hospital of the University of British Columbia. The BC-CfE works in close collaboration with key provincial stakeholders, including health authorities, health care providers, academics from other institutions, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV and AIDS. By developing, monitoring and disseminating comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related illnesses, the BC-CfE helps improve the health of British Columbians living with HIV.

Contact
PHEMI Health Systems Inc.
Adam Lorant
604-202-3488
alorant@phemi.com