Chronic pain is often cited as one of the worst challenges a person may encounter in life. To everyone else, you look “normal”, but little does everyone know the struggle you face to accomplish everyday activities through incapacitating pain. Many current diagnostic tests may not be able to isolate a specific cause. Rarely does anyone understand what you’re going through.
Novah Healthcare in Mississauga has a revolutionary approach to managing and treating chronic pain by helping patients understand their triggers and build resilience. They guide chronic pain sufferers to explore resources to help them feel safe and confident regardless of the challenges that they may face. The Novah team and Clinic Director, Dr. Trung Ngo, want everyone to live a life that is not limited by pain.
Dr. Ngo has extensive experience in treating patients with complex, chronic diseases. He was the Associate Clinical Director of the Function and Pain Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, and, in 2017, he founded Novah Healthcare, an interdisciplinary team that treats chronic pain and chronic neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injuries through chiropractic, physiotherapy, massage therapy, pedorthics, biofeedback therapy, and psychotherapy.
At Mount Sinai Hospital, the interdisciplinary approach allowed Dr. Ngo to see how siloed professionals in the community are. But despite their comprehensiveness, they saw a lot of people who didn’t get better… begging the question, “why do some people do well while others don’t?”
After founding Novah Healthcare, Dr. Ngo started researching resilience which offers a possible answer to the gnawing question. This led him to the revelatory understanding that a person’s environment and resources play as much, if not more of an important role in their health than their attitude or internal strength. This insight has put Novah on a path to truly help people who are vulnerable or marginalized, with a team assembled of experienced and skilled clinicians who are curious about the patient AND their context, not just their isolated body or mind.
Health sciences are likely one of Canada’s most research-heavy sectors; however, many of the biotech, medical, dental, and clinical practices fail to even apply for SR&ED tax credit refunds. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program provides tax incentives to encourage Canadian businesses of all sizes and sectors to conduct research and experimental development to advance scientific knowledge or technology.
When Dr. Ngo’s Business Development Bank of Canada advisor, Alicia Neposlan, learned that Novah did research, she felt that they would benefit from the SR&ED tax credit program. Up to that point, Dr. Ngo had had no idea SR&ED tax credits even existed.
Even though he had published research in the past (including an excellent 2019 Ted Talk), and creating detailed reports wasn’t foreign to him, Dr. Ngo found it difficult to frame his work in the context of SR&ED and to know which part of his work might qualify. Dr. Ngo connected with experienced SRED Unlimited consultant Leslie Jennings and was immediately confident in her ability to translate his research into a proper SR&ED claim submission. SRED Unlimited did all the heavy lifting of the claim preparation, freeing up a lot of time for the Novah team to focus on what they do best.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recognizes that work involving medical research generally meets the eligibility criteria of the SR&ED program as it contributes to new discoveries and advancements in medical knowledge. Even if the research work seems standard or routine, there may be elements that are less-than-standard which a skilled SRED Unlimited consultant can unearth during their technical interview. They ask very specific questions that are designed to uncover savoury bits of research and development that will maximize your claim.
“When I got a cheque back from the government with a significant amount of money written on it, I was shocked that a few conversations with SRED Unlimited about something we already do in our company could result into actual dollars back into my company’s bank account,” said Dr. Ngo. “For a minimal investment of time to speak with a SRED Unlimited consultant, the potential for gaining a substantial amount of funds back in tax credits and refunds is quite amazing.”
Their significant SR&ED refund allowed Dr. Ngo to invest more money back into the business. As a new company that’s still finding its footing, this injection of cash mitigated some of their financial stresses so that they could focus on developing the company’s services and growth. In future, they intend to further invest in equipment and pay for renovations to increase the capacity of the clinic.
If you encounter uncertainties during your medical research and/or experimentation, and especially if the solution to the uncertainty could not be found using standard methods or public knowledge, then your clinic may have a case for SR&ED.
SRED Unlimited minimizes the time your team needs to spend on SR&ED paperwork so you can stay focused on making life better for present and future patients.
All it takes to get started is a FREE, no-obligation 15-minute consultation.