2,000 TELUS team members take control of their own health records paving way
for national roll-out

Innovative project builds on TELUS' $1.4 billion broadband investment in Alberta over the past two years

EDMONTON , Nov. 3 /CNW/ - TELUS today announced the launch of TELUS Health Space, powered by Microsoft HealthVault, involving 2,000 TELUS team members across Canada. TELUS team members are the first to use the new service which will soon be available to millions of Canadians.

TELUS Health Space is a secure and confidential online consumer platform and the first of its kind in Canada. TELUS Health Space will provide Canadians with one of the most fundamentally important pieces of the healthcare puzzle - access and management of their own health information.

"TELUS has invested more than $800 million dollars the last three years in healthcare technology and our team members are working tirelessly to drive healthcare transformation," said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. "Through TELUS Health Space, we are empowering Canadians with an electronic health platform that will improve health outcomes for themselves and their families. The TELUS team is resolute in our goals to put the patient first, improve the flow of information across the continuum of care and shift the focus from the remediation to the prevention of disease."

"Enabling the expeditious, secure and effective movement and storage of information is imbedded in the DNA of TELUS and these capabilities are desperately needed in our healthcare system. In the past two years alone, we have invested $1.4 billion in Alberta to bring the benefits of advanced broadband networks and applications to the province's citizens at home, at work and on the go," added Entwistle.

TELUS Health Space will give Canadians the ability to create, store and manage their family's health information in a safe environment utilizing the latest in encryption and protection technology. This includes moving personal health information quickly and securely across the healthcare continuum whether that be at home, in a clinic, at a hospital or wherever consumers' lifestyles or business travels take them. In a world where wireless network technology has enabled powerful mobile computing, health information can be right at their fingertips, because their smartphones and tablets will accompany them.

The TELUS Health Space project is an ongoing, multi-phased initiative, targeting different health issues and e-health technologies including innovative new mobile applications. The first phase of this nationwide project with TELUS team members focuses on cardiovascular health and will be run in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Shepell.fgi, TELUS' Employee & Family Assistance Program provider.

TELUS is also working with The Canadian MedicAlert Foundation to improve responses in urgent situations. As the only registered charity of its kind, MedicAlert has been the trusted provider of emergency medical information services to Canadians for over 50 years.

Now, in partnership with TELUS, the more than one million MedicAlert members, who have life threatening allergies or illnesses, will have the ability to upload readings from personal medical devices, track medications and history, keep their medical record up-to-date, and through a consent management tool, share information with their doctor, pharmacy and emergency personnel.

TELUS Health Space is the first consumer health platform in Canada to gain Canada Health Infoway pre-implementation certification for providing a secure, interoperable application environment and personal health information platform. TELUS is the national leader in the e-health field, providing electronic health records for more than 5 million Canadians.

Since 2000, TELUS has made more than $21 billion in operating and capital investments in Alberta.

About TELUS Health Solutions

TELUS Health Solutions is a leader in telehealth, electronic health records, remote patient monitoring, mobile home and community care, consumer health, benefits management and pharmacy management. Our solutions give health authorities, providers, primary care physicians, patients and consumers the power to enhance decision making and improve outcomes for Canadians. TELUS Health Solutions is transforming how information is used across the continuum of care from hospital to home with solutions that foster collaboration, drive prevention and empower care teams and patients. TELUS Health Solutions is Canada's leading Healthcare IT Company as cited by the Branham Group for the last three years and for being honoured as the ITAC Health Company of the Year (2008) and Health Transformation Company of the Year (2009). For more information about TELUS Health Solutions, please visit www.telushealth.com and www.telushealthspace.com.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Chris Gerritsen
TELUS Media Relations
[phone]
[email protected]