Rocket Doctor's Virtually-Enabled Emergency Department  Diversion Program Reduces Strain on Overwhelmed Hospitals

Hamilton Spectator

31-07-2025

Vancouver, BC, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —
Treatment.com
AI Inc. (CSE: TRUE, OTC: TREIF, Frankfurt: 939) ('Treatment') and its wholly owned digital health platform and marketplace, Rocket Doctor, are providing a scalable response to Canada's emergency department crisis with a data-backed diversion program. The program uses smart triage, provider infrastructure, and AI-enabled care to safely keep appropriate patients with low-acuity healthcare concerns out of overcrowded hospitals, while getting them the comprehensive out-patient care that they need, faster.
Across Canada, hospitals are facing unprecedented strain. Since 2019, emergency departments have experienced more than
1.14 million hours of closure
, the equivalent of 47,500 lost days of emergency care. Ontario and Alberta have been hit especially hard, with
rural ER closures and care disruptions
becoming a regular occurrence. This reality has left communities with few options and patients in critical need of safe, timely alternatives.
British Columbia is equally seeing regular ER closures throughout 2025, causing challenges for patients, healthcare systems and especially rural communities:
BC is not Alone – Rural ER Crisis across Canada – BC Rural Health Network
While in many cases a virtual-only system is not a replacement for in-person emergency care, Rocket Doctor's ED diversion program is helping to support hospitals and patients to fill a void in accessible care. The platform enables hospital systems to allow patients to self-select to reroute themselves to clinically appropriate, out-patient consultations, leveraging customized intake forms, real-time triage, and a flexible physician network, either from independent MDs on Rocket Doctor's platform, or the hospital's own staff.
At Georgian Bay General Hospital in Ontario, the results speak for themselves. Between June 2022 and December 2024, more than 3,065 patients have been successfully managed through MDs on Rocket Doctor's platform, with 97% of patients treated virtually and only 1% redirected to the ER. Patients waited an average of just 20 minutes to connect with a physician. The estimated system savings totaled $1.4 million, based on an average $475 cost per diverted ER visit multiplied by the total number of patients seen. All visits were covered under OHIP, with no additional fees to patients.
In Alberta, Rocket Doctor has seen similar success across its broader platform, with over 12,000 patients seen in the past 3 months alone, entirely funded by provincial health insurance. More than 98% of these visits were resolved without requiring in-person care, and less than 1% were sent to the ER.
'We see so many patients in our rural, remote and even urban communities going to ED, often when they recognize that they could be seen outside the hospital.' Said Dr. William Cherniak, CEO of Rocket Doctor. 'There has been a lot of good content from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) to recognize that we need to support patients to access healthcare where they see most appropriate. We often see patients choose an ED with low-acuity issues simply because of a lack of access to family doctors, or other accessible out-patient choices.'
By leveraging smart triage and other digital tools, Rocket Doctor's ED Diversion Program and broader platform pairs patients with the right physician based on their needs, empowering physicians to order labs, imaging, make specialist referrals, or escalate care to in-person options when clinically necessary (although rare). Patients can also rebook with the same physician to ensure continuity of care, improving outcomes and reducing unnecessary visits.
'We are filling that gap by empowering physicians in a team-based cloud-enabled model of care with technological support to work at the top of their license within their clinical competencies digitally.' said Dr. Cherniak. 'We're building a system that gives patients a smarter entry point and gives physicians the tools to work independently, safely, and efficiently.'
As staffing shortages and rural hospital disruptions continue to affect patients across Canada, Rocket Doctor and
Treatment.com
AI are offering hospitals and provincial systems a deployable, proven solution; one that reduces backlog, lowers system strain, and drives meaningful outcomes at scale.
About
Treatment.com
AI Inc.
Treatment.com
AI is a company utilizing AI (artificial intelligence) and best clinical practices to positively improve the healthcare sector and impact current inefficiencies and challenges. With the input of hundreds of healthcare professionals globally,
Treatment.com
AI has built a comprehensive, personalized healthcare AI engine - the Global Library of Medicine (GLM). With more than 10,000 expert medical reviews, the GLM delivers tested clinical information and support to all healthcare professionals as well as providing recommended tests (physical and lab), imaging and billing codes. The GLM helps healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses or pharmacists) reduce their administrative burden; creates more time for needed face-to-face patient appointments; and enables greater consistency in quality of patient support.
Treatment.com
AI's GLM platform, through supporting healthcare professionals, allows for the inclusion of disenfranchised communities.
Learn more at
www.treatment.com
or contact
[e-mail]
.
About Rocket Doctor Inc.
Rocket Doctor is a technology-driven digital health platform and marketplace that is breaking down obstacles that limit access to quality, comprehensive and cost-effective healthcare. Our proprietary software equips doctors with the tools to run practices in virtual and hybridized in-person/virtual models of care, enabling them to provide tailored care to patients in rural and Northern communities across Canada and on Medicaid in the United States. Leveraging large language models, AI/ML and wireless medical devices, Rocket Doctor is bridging the healthcare divide, connecting patients to equitable and accessible virtual healthcare services regardless of age, location, or financial status.
To learn more about Rocket Doctor's platform and services, visit
www.rocketdoctor.ca
(Canada) or
www.rocketdoctor.io
(U.S.), or contact
[e-mail]
.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO,
Treatment.com
AI
Email:
[e-mail]
Call: [phone] / Toll-Free USA/Canada: [phone]
Dr. Bill Cherniak, CEO, Rocket Doctor
Email:
[e-mail]
Media inquiries:
[e-mail]
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on
Treatment.com
AI's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates, including with respect to the implementation of its shareholder communications initiative and the timing thereof. Although
Treatment.com
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and
Treatment.com
undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances unless otherwise required to do so by law.
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.