Faculty

Director, Mental Health – Health Information Systems (MH-HIS) Cluster at The Royal, Waypoint, Ontario Shores – Wendy has a passion for making a difference for patients, families and clinicians through health information technology initiatives with more than 20 years’ experience in the digital health profession.  Wendy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Masters, Health Informatics (MHI), and is also certified with the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) and Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems – Canada (CPHIMS-CA).  Wendy is currently the Director, Mental Health – Health Information Systems (MH-HIS) Cluster, which includes Waypoint Centre for Mental Health, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada.

Manager, Master Data Governance Office, Canadian Institute for Health Information – Janine Kaye has worked in digital health for almost two decades. She has primarily worked in the areas of business intelligence and data warehousing but in the last few years has shifted focus to data governance and master data management.  In all of her work she considers information quality, privacy and risk and patient safety. Before joining CIHI, Janine worked at the University Health Network in Toronto where she helped build and support the organizations data warehouse and hospital indicator development.  Janine is a proud holder of the CPHIMS-CA designation. She attended the University of Waterloo where she earned her Bachelor of Applied Science in Systems Design Engineering.

President – PDG at le Groupe – Circle – Group – With more than 30 years of executive management experience and a detailed knowledge of the healthcare and technology markets in both Canada and the United States, Scott has developed and managed action plans and strategies to transition numerous North American community-based and acute care institutions from paper-based health records management to electronic health record (EHR) systems. He has also developed strategic planning and business transformation processes, performed market and competitive analyses, defined marketing plans, developed promotional materials and identified investment opportunities for medium and high tech corporations. Scott’s knowledge of corporate and health records management combined with a proven talent in analyzing abstract information has assisted leading edge institutions in clearly understanding the ROI of future Electronic Document Management Systems. His project experience has been acquired during mandates with some of the most reputed corporations and healthcare institutions in both Canada and the United States where he has managed and facilitated the implementation of multi-million dollar records management and EHR applications. Scott is a Certified Professional in Health Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS), a Certified Document Imagining Architect Plus (CDIA+), is fluently bilingual (English/French) and also speaks functional Italian.

Professor, Faculty of Business and Hospitality, Conestoga College – Aaron is an accomplished digital health transformation executive with over 15 years of experience at ministry, acute and primary care levels. A strategic leader with a proven track record of building organizational capability, successful project delivery and the creation and management of high-performance teams across many major functions – software development, sales/CRM, finance, operations/infrastructure and supply chain/manufacturing – supported by a PMI Project Management Professional, Certified Professional in Health Information Management Systems designation and an Masters of Business Administration with a specialization in Project Management, while in pursuit of a Doctorate in Public Administration.

Chief Information Officer, Alliance for Healthier Communities – For the past 25 years, Rodney Burns has held senior leadership positions in Information Management portfolios developing and implementing multiple IS and corporate strategic plans. In early 2005, he led the Toronto East Network’s Diagnostic Imaging/PACS Project which was a voluntary collaboration of 23 hospitals across four LHIN that provide DI services for approximately 30% of the population of Ontario. 

Rod received a B.Sc. (Hons) in Medical Physiology from the University of Western Ontario in 1988 and a Masters of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa in 1992. Rod is active in the professional community and a strong believer in on-going professional development. Along with memberships with various professional associations, he is Past President of the Ontario Chapter of the Health Information and Management Systems Society and Past President of the Southwestern Chapter of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives. Rod earned his designation as a Certified Health Executive from the Canadian College of Health Leaders in 1993. He was awarded his Fellowship designation in June, 2018 and becomes one of 70 recipients across Canada. Rod holds a Senior designation with the Health Information & Management System Society and was one of the first to earn the CPHIMS-CA credential from Digital Health Canada. 

Rod’s current professional interests lay in health system leadership, consumer digital healthcare, and institutional knowledge management. 

Manager, Consent and Audit, eHealth Ontario – Dave Randhawa holds a Master of Business Administration and Masters of Computer Science and Engineering. Dave has extensive experience in the private and public sectors in business management, the delivery of business transformation projects and business operations. Dave’s career in the field of health care and information technology/management spans over seventeen years; he is currently the Manager, Consent and Audit in the eHealth Ontario.

Dave is experienced management consulting professional and his leadership in the digital domain has touched most of the Ontario’s health sectors, including long-term care, primary care, community care, acute care and mental health. Dave has cultivated and maintained strong collaborative relationships with health care partners with in Ontario and across Canada, representing himself and his respective organizations in number of pan-Canadian conferences

Chief Executive Officer, InfoClin Analytics – Karim has been involved in many health related primary care IT projects over the last 20 years. His work on physician willingness to pay for electronic medical records (EMR) with McMaster University in the late 1990’s led to the EMR subsidy model that was used across Canada to encourage EMR uptake.

He has been involved in 2 large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on clinical decision support (CDS) in primary care and has been involved in developing interoperability standards for Canada. He was the physician subject matter expert on Canada Health Infoway’s e-prescribing standards and interoperable electronic health record standard and on their Blueprint 2015 project. Karim also architected Canada’s Primary Care Chronic Disease Surveillance System (www.cpcssn.ca).

Manager, Laboratory Informatics, Island Health – Lisa manages the team that builds, maintains and supports Cerner Millennium PathNet, Cerner CoPath Plus and Apollo PathPACS PlusTelePathology. Liases between Laboratory Operations and IMIT.

Currently the project manager for the IHealth PathNet project to reimplement Cerner PathNet (General Laboratory, Microbiology and Blood Bank) and implement Cerner Helix. Also the project manager for the Lab Point of Care Testing Connectivity project to interface GEM blood gas analyzers and i-STAT’s through Telcor into Cerner.

Served as project manager for the implementation of Cerner PathNet and CoPath at St. Joseph’s General Hospital. Served as the final project manager for the RAP project, overseeing the implementation of Cerner CoPath Plus, regional anatomical pathology computer system. Was the project manager for the Island eCare Core Clinicals project-PathNet that saw the implementation of Cerner PathNet at all our our VIHA laboratories. Was the project manager for the Cerner Post SI Go-Live implementation project

Prior to his retirement in 2016, Neil served for more than 25 years in senior roles for the Ministry of Health in Saskatchewan, including CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Information Network (SHIN), Chief Information Officer and Associate Deputy Minister. Neil led the development and implementation of Saskatchewan’s provincial eHealth strategy, as well as playing a prominent role at the national level in Canada as provincial co-chair of the Conference of Deputy Ministers’ Advisory Committee on Health Infostructure (ACHI) and in the founding of Canada’s two major national institutions in this space – the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Canada Health Infoway. Neil continues to be actively involved in development of international standards through ISO TC215 (Health Informatics). He is currently co-leading a foundational standard on the safe, effective and secure design, implementation and use of health IT systems.

Clinical Design Lead with Population, Public and Indigenous Health, Alberta Health Services – With almost twenty years of experience in the health informatics space, Christine has worn many hats, from project manager, organizational change management specialist, process improvement practitioner using a combination of LEAN and Six Sigma methodologies applied in the healthcare context, to designing clinical systems to support practice. She has held a number of leadership roles over her career. She has also been a member of the Digital Health Canada Exam Development Committee and an instructor for the Core HI course. Her more recent focus is on finding ways to embed action on social and preventive factors in clinical information systems, so that addressing health promotion and prevention needs of patients becomes a standard part of clinical practice.

Program Lead, Clinical Administrative Databases Development and Expansion, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) – Anne Forsyth has over ten years of experience in the digital health industry, with a specific focus on program development, product development and implementation, and information privacy. In her current role, she is responsible for expanding and optimizing data supply to CIHI’s inpatient, emergency department, day surgery and ambulatory care data holdings: DAD and NACRS. Anne is a certified professional in health care information and management systems (CPHIMS-CA) and a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/CA). She holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree in Health Studies and Management Studies from the University of Waterloo, and a Master of Health Science in Health Administration from the University of Toronto.

Manager, Database and Platform Services, IM/IT, Vancouver Island Health Authority – Gajanan has 30 years of experience in healthcare field. He has a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of healthcare technologies gained through the variety of roles he has played over the years starting with a practising physician and then to biomedical engineering, researcher in AI, database specialist, system architect, project manager to his current role as an IT operations manager. Communication, collaboration and customer focus are his strengths while learning and sharing knowledge are his passions. Gajanan is a certified PMP and CPHIMS-CA professional for many years.

Healthcare Leader, Digital Health Consultant Contractor
Susan Sepa’s (RN, BScN, MSc, CPHIMS-CA, CHE) initial grounding in front line clinical and operational management experience in health care organizations, followed by over 14 yrs in health care consulting is a unique combination resulting in key competencies in: Strategy and business case development for electronic health record (EHR) and clinical information solutions (CIS) roadmaps; Stakeholder engagement and change implementation strategies; Clinical Informatics; IM IT organizational process and redesign and Health system analysis and process redesign. Susan has fulfilled roles such as the executive leader of a health authority clinical application management group; clinical informatics and transformational lead for a CIS program, a Project Director for clinical information system implementations, a facilitator and leader of clinical informatics advisory groups in health care agencies. Throughout, Susan is a tireless advocate for the patient safety and quality benefits of a fully interoperable CIS that enables care providers and supports seamless and timely sharing of clinical information across the patient journey.

Consultant, Business Analysis, Project Management, and Clinical SME
Patricia is currently a Business Analyst/Project Manager and Clinical Subject Matter Expert for Consulting Inc. She is also currently the Clinical Nursing Advisor for the eHealth Saskatchewan Programs Division. She provides strategic input into initiative planning; leads clinical engagement for clinical systems initiatives, content development, systems access and use; facilitates eHealth partnership with the Ministry of Health efforts e.g. patient safety initiatives; supports the SRNA in their members’ access to and use of clinical systems; and supports the development and integration of clinicians into informatics roles with the organization.

Director, Digital Insights, CGI
With 30 years of experience in information management, analytics and patient care, as Director of Digital Insights for CGI, Julie is responsible for data and analytics strategies, thought leadership and business development across the US. She has led some of the first healthcare prescriptive analytics project to determine the best possible options to improve access, cost and quality of care. Julie is the author of numerous health BI, analytics and informatics papers, speaker at numerous international conferences and has volunteered for over 20 years as member of community, national and international boards and committees. A personal style that engenders collaboration, openness, innovation and achievement.

Chief Executive Officer, Privacy Horizon Inc.
Patrick Lo is the CEO of Privacy Horizon Inc. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of information privacy. He has held a number of executive positions in the public and private sectors focused on the development and implementation of privacy and data protection programs. Prior to joining Privacy Horizon, Patrick was Senior Program Director for the Identity, Access and Privacy Portfolio at eHealth Ontario, where he was responsible for strategy and planning, product management and adoption of provincial identity management technologies designed to control access to personal health information. Prior to that, he led the privacy office at eHealth Ontario, and built the Province’s first “eHealth Privacy Centre of Excellence” – establishing eHealth Ontario as a leader in the development and implementation of privacy best practices. Patrick is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C).

Managing Partner, Clinical Informatics Practice, Gevity
Dr. Margaret Ann Kennedy is Chief Nursing Informatics Officer and Managing Partner leading Gevity’s Clinical Informatics Practice. Leveraging 30 years experience in leadership roles across the healthcare continuum, Margie enables systems transformation to support optimal health outcomes and quality clinical practice. Margie’s deep understanding of interprofessional clinical practice informs her strategic advisory services, assisting clients to achieve organizational transformation, health outcome and adoption targets, and system efficiencies. She is equally comfortable engaging at a tactical project level; with diverse stakeholders; managing change programs; and training users. Margie is recognized for her ability to quickly connect with clients, bringing her expert clinical lens to ensure that implementations align with clinical priorities and administrative needs. Margie is adept in cultivating consensus among interprofessional stakeholders, and local, regional, or complex multi-jurisdictional teams. She understands the importance of fostering strategic alliances to achieve long term success. Margie approaches her group work with humor, an unwavering commitment to excellence, and a humanistic approach that aims to empower. An industry leader, Margie contributes to peer reviewed journals, is co-editor of Introduction to Nursing Informatics (4th ed), serves on multiple Canadian and international informatics committees, as well as various editorial boards. She continues to teach at the post graduate level and in a variety of industry certification programs. A true East Coaster, Margie is always at home by the sea, and can frequently be found exploring oceanside vistas or seeking local whale watching and boating adventures. Margie is a ballet and musical theatre fan as well as an avid hockey fan. Margie holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of South Australia, a Master of Nursing from Dalhousie University (Canada), a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. Francis Xavier University (Canada), and a Post Graduate Certificate in Standards for Health Informatics from the University of Sherbrooke (Canada). Additionally, she maintains her CPHIMS-CA, plus multiple change and project management certifications.

Chief Medical Officer and Chief Privacy Officer, Orion Health
Dr. Hobson has 16 years experience as a physician working in primary and secondary care (major areas of interest include family practice, after hours services, internal medicine especially cardiology gastroenterology and endocrinology) and 10 years experience in Family Medicine, during which time he used an EMR with full functionality including integration of lab results, radiology and other documents in day-to-day practice. Dr. Hobson has global experience in all areas of Healthcare IT, from business strategy through product design and development; sales and marketing; implementation project management and business analysis. Dr. Hobson has worked on both the client and vendor side as well as with payers and providers in the US. Interests are in strategy and application of technology to integrated care, disease management and primary care. International experience (spanning Canada, New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA and Spain) enables Dr. Hobson to bring a great perspective for comparison of different health systems, their strengths and weaknesses. Globally Dr. Hobson has advised on approximately 25 Health Information Exchanges (shared electronic health records) along with their implementation and evaluation and more than ten chronic disease management and care coordination projects. At Orion, Dr. Hobson provides strategic advice to clients on healthcare system evolution, the importance of primary care to the future of a successful health system and the use of Information Technology to support it.

Program Lead, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
Dennis Cheung is Program Lead, Architecture and Standards at CIHI and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Toronto. Over a decade of experience working in the healthcare sector. Experiences range from community sized hospitals to teaching hospitals, to government, non-profit and international organizations helping to procure, build, and deploy clinical and IT solutions.

Group Manager, Data & Analytic Services, Cancer Care Ontario
Alma Chandrasekharan has over 10 years of experience in Analysis, Design, Product Development and Implementation of Healthcare IT systems with a strong focus in the Healthcare market in Australia, United Kingdom and Canada. Key strengths include – strong communication skills, team building, stakeholder engagement.Additionally, she is skilled in – business strategy, product management, benefits evaluation, requirements gathering, rapid prototyping, user interface design and usability, data modelling and design, data governance, healthcare and clinical practices, standards, service management, service oriented architecture, and programming in .NET framework.

 
Clinical Application Specialist/Developer, University Health Network
Heather Begley has completed a Master of Science and Medical Informatics at Northwestern University. Her specialties are project management, technique development, and software application. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​University Health Network’s ten program areas are spread across eight sites – Princess Margaret, Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals, as well as the fiv​e sites of Toronto Rehab.