IWK Health is leading a $5.4 million, 24‑month national initiative to modernize how genetic tests are ordered in Canada. SmartRequisition, co‑led with Canadian health technology company PhenoTips and supported by Genome Atlantic and Ontario Genomics, uses artificial intelligence to automate and standardize genetic test requisitions.
Today, clinicians must manually translate patient symptoms from narrative clinical notes into complex, structured requisition formats. This process is time‑consuming and can result in incomplete requisitions and testing delays. SmartRequisition securely analyzes clinical notes, extracts standardized symptom information, and generates complete, lab‑ready requisitions for clinician review.
The project aims to reduce symptom coding time by 67 per cent and increase requisition completeness to 80 per cent, supporting faster diagnoses and more equitable access to genetic testing across Canada.
Funded in part by $1.8 million from Genome Canada, SmartRequisition will be deployed at IWK Health, Alberta Health Services, CHU Sainte‑Justine, CHEO, and SickKids. The project is co‑led by Dr. Victor Martinez (IWK Health Centre) and Orion Buske (PhenoTips).