Digital health programs continue to be implemented within Canadian health systems at a steady pace. The effectiveness of digital health initiatives has been rigorously analyzed, with both benefits and drawbacks extensively commented on. While the discussion about digital health continues, both positive and negative perspectives of it are approaching saturation in their themes. Accepting that digital health is here to stay post-pandemic, the focus should shift to strategies and supports needed to avoid the fragmentation of care through digital health implementation. This webinar poses three questions which policy-makers and decision-makers should explore as part of a level-setting exercise with involved stakeholders at the outset of a digital health program's consideration. An implementation team should design the digital health program to have equity as its foundational focus, conduct value-based evaluations, and position the program in a learning health system framework to guard against the fragmentation of care.
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Kendall Ho, MD, FRCPC, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Dr. Kendall Ho is an emergency medicine specialist and Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine. As the leader of the Digital Emergency Medicine Unit, Medical Director for BC Ministry of Health HealthLinkBC 811, and the chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Digital Emergency Medicine Committee, he’s at the forefront of integrating digital innovations into healthcare. Dr. Ho spearheads groundbreaking research in virtual care, wearables, AI, and multicultural health literacy. His pioneering work, which bridges emergency departments with community care, has earned him the BC Medal of Good Citizenship, and awards in research and education. A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Dr. Ho dedicates his work to contribute to shaping the future of digital health through his academic work.
Dr. Shelley McLeod, PhD, Research Director, Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute (SREMI)
Dr. Shelley McLeod is a Clinical Epidemiologist and the Research Director of the Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute (SREMI) at Sinai Health, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She has over 20 years of experience working in emergency medicine research with expertise in clinical research methodology and biostatistics and has published more than 135 papers in a varied array of emergency medicine topics. Her main academic interests include emergency department triage and flow, evidence synthesis including network meta-analysis, trial design, and program evaluation. In the last 5 years, she collaborated with researchers from across Canada to secure 33 grants totaling more than $14 million dollars in peer-reviewed funding. Dr. McLeod recently completed the provincial evaluation of Ontario’s virtual urgent care pilot program, which helped inform provincial policy decisions on how to structure virtual care services across the province.
Dr. Samuel Petrie, PhD, Health Outcomes Scientist, Nova Scotia Health
Samuel Petrie is a Health System Impact Fellow at University of Toronto and University Health Network. Originally from Halifax, he completed his BKI at the University of Waterloo in 2016, and his PhD in Health Sciences at Carleton University. His research interests include the scalability of pilot projects, the demographics of high cost health users, and the use of tele-health/eHealth technologies to better serve rural communities.
Fees:
CCHL member: Free
Non-members: $40.00
