Joseph Petruccelli, a master’s student in surgical innovation, and his colleagues received the Grand Prix Hippocrate (Emerging Category) and an innovation prize for their start-up, CoeurWay.
A team of young health professionals who designed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered medical scribe has been recognized with two awards by Le Prix Hippocrate.
CoeurWay, a startup co-led by Joseph Petruccelli, MD, a master’s student in surgical innovation at McGill, won the innovation prize for emerging digital, technological, pharmacological and artificial intelligence transformation.
They also took home the Grand Prix Hippocrate (Emerging Category) for best overall emerging healthcare innovation in Quebec.
Daniel Paré, Deputy Minister in the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) presented the CoeurWay team with both awards at Le Prix Hippocrate’s 14th annual gala on October 17, 2024.
CoeurWay is a Quebec-based medical software that allows clinicians to securely transcribe recordings from health consultations, generate notes and automatically fill out frequently used forms. These include documents for the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité de travail (CNESST), the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) and the Régie de l’assurance maladie (RAMQ).
“It’s surreal being recognized and honoured after working so hard to creative a wave of meaningful change,” says Dr. Petruccelli, who serves as CoeurWay’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). “We built this solution with our healthcare system, for our healthcare system. We brought a dream to reality in the past year, now it is without question that our technology is the future.”
Easing administrative burden and preventing burnout
Dr. Petruccelli and his colleagues were inspired to launch CoeurWay to help ease administrative burden on healthcare professionals and prevent burnout, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We saw a need to bring balance back to the average health professionals’ day, allowing them to focus on patients rather than paperwork,” he adds. “Our goal was simple: to create a solution that would allow clinicians to devote their energy to what matters most – patient care.”
Dr. Petruccelli credits his experience in the surgical innovation program, offered by the Department of Surgery, as influencing his approach as CMO of CoeurWay, giving him a “front-row seat to the innovation landscape”.
“McGill’s network, paired with hands-on learning, gave me the tools I needed to lead CoeurWay’s medical strategy and make the right pilot projects to drive our mission forward,” he says. “The experience has been invaluable in shaping how I guide our team and product development.”
Just getting started
With two more prestigious awards under their belt, Dr. Petruccelli and his colleagues at CoeurWay have one thing to say: they are just getting started.
“Winning these awards is only the beginning,” says Dr. Petruccelli. “It reaffirms that our solution is at the forefront of new technologies to be used and adopted. It aids us in expanding across Quebec, in making meaningful partnerships, and in accelerating our development.”
Next steps include widespread implementation in the public sector, as well as continuing to foster partnerships to refine the platform and ensure that CoeurWay continues to be developed safely.
Dr. Petruccelli thanked the CoeurWay team and the company’s co-founders: Marie Lavoie (Chief Executive Officer), Antoine Lavoie (Chief Research Officer) and Pierre-Olivier Gravel (Chief Technical Officer). He also expressed his gratitude to CoeurWay’s partners and the Prix Hippocrate organizers and judges.
“This recognition belongs to all of us, and I’m honoured to be part of creating positive change for our healthcare system,” he added.
