Virtual Hallway, a Halifax-based platform that lets physicians and nurse practitioners schedule consultations with specialists and streamlines communication and record-keeping processes, has rolled out its technology on Prince Edward Island under a deal with Health PEI.

The company, under CEO Justin Hartlen and founders Dr. Jacob Cookey, Dr. Luke Napier and Dr. Daniel Rasic, has facilitated more than 30 consultations between P.E.I. doctors and specialists since it launched there May 1. In total, there are so-far 93 registered users on P.E.I., including 72 primary care providers and 21 specialists.

“Congrats to the team and our partners in PEI for this exciting launch,” wrote Hartlen on LInkedIn. “We can't wait to see the positive change that Virtual Hallway brings to patients, physicians and specialists on the Island.”

Virtual Hallway’s co-founders — all psychiatrists — started the business in 2019 because they were struggling to schedule and document the phone consults they were performing. Hartlen, the former head of Covina Biomedical and a life sciences veteran, joined as CEO in February of last year.

Initially launched as an online spreadsheet for physicians to book phone consults with specialists who had posted information about their availability, the current version of the service offers the same functionality in a more user-friendly package. The specialist also writes a consult report that is shared with the primary care doctor, and the process of billing the provincial government is automated.

The company had 16 employees as of last August, counting its founders, and at the time was active in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Hartlen’s plan was to make Nova Scotia a proving ground for the platform, helping his team establish the track record they will need for larger markets.