About Information Management Strategy (IMS)

The central themes of Ontario’s eHealth Blueprint are connectivity, innovation and a commitment to improve client care and care outcomes. The AOHC, its Board of Directors, as well as the CHC and AHAC Executive Director Networks share this commitment. As an association representing 85 health care organizations, we have a unique vantage point from which to drive efficiency through the system. We are working hard to provide a framework to implement Ontario's vision of a common Electronic Health Record (EHR).

The IM strategy outlined below is designed to facilitate our move towards resource consolidation and sector-wide management of cost-effective health information management solutions. This plan to improve the quality of care for more than 400,000 people across the province was guided by two key principles:

•      IMS supports the strategic direction of Ontario’s CHCs, which is guided by the CHC Model of Care;
•      CHCs act collectively to own their information and information management systems.

For the next two years, IMS will focus on these work streams:

•      eHealth Alignment, including the AOHC Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Project and Drug Profile Viewer (DPV) System Project
•      Non-Operational Reporting and Analytics (NORA)
•      Ontario Healthcare Reporting Standards/Management Information Systems (OHRS/MIS)
•      Community Initiatives Online (CI Tool)


Management and Governance

The AOHC has been approved by the CHC Executive Director Network and the AOHC Board of Directors as the management structure to implement the AOHC Information Management Strategy. The AOHC acts under the guidance of the Information Management Committee (IMC) and its sub-committees in managing IMS activities on behalf of the sector.

A committee of the CHC Executive Director Network, the principal forum for making decisions that impact the sector, IMC is responsible for establishing a long-term direction for the Strategy that supports best practices, addresses the needs of CHCs, and aligns with the direction of the provincial healthcare system.


Important Documents

•  eHealth Alignment Briefing Book
•  NORA/BIRT Briefing Book

The IMS Team   
 

IMS Management

Rodney Burns, Chief Information Officer
Contact: 416-236-2539 ext. 249        
E-mail:  rodney@aohc.org

Rodney joined AOHC as CIO in December, 2011. He provides overall leadership and management of the Information Management Strategy, and ensures the sector is well represented at key eHealth and IM planning tables in Ontario. Rodney’s previous positions included CIO & eHealth Lead at North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network, Director of Information Services at Humber River Regional Hospital and CIO at Sarnia General Hospital. He holds a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa in 1992 and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Medical Physiology from the University of Western Ontario in 1988.


IMS Communications & Change Management

Melissa Heng, Communications Lead
E-mail:  melissa@aohc.org

Melissa has 15 years of experience in medical journalism, corporate communications and strategic public relations. She has consulted with several Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations and inter-governmental agencies worldwide including Nomura International, Bayer Schering, Parkway Health, CapitaLand Group, Edelman, as well as the Prime Minister’s Office in Singapore. Melissa holds a Master of Philosophy in European Studies from Cambridge University (UK) and a B.A. in Mass Communications with majors in Journalism and Public Relations.


Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Stream

Nolan, Yearwood, EMR Project Director
E-mail:  nolan@aohc.org

Nolan joined AOHC in July, 2011 as EMR Project Director. He has held many senior positions previously, including Director of the Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Project and the London Hospitals Electronic Patient Record Project. A former Deputy Commissioner of Corporate Services and CIO for Metropolitan Toronto, Nolan has a degree in Electronic Engineering majoring in Computer Sciences and a Masters in Business Administration.


Raj Rehill, EMR Senior Implementation Lead
E-mail:  raj@aohc.org

As the Sr. EMR Implementation Lead, Raj is responsible for the EMR rollout activities.  Raj is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), who joined AOHC in April, 2012.  Raj's previous positions included EMR Transition Lead at AOHC, eHealth Program Manager at the Mississauga Halton LHIN, Project Manager for eHealth initiatives and Project Lead for the Paediatric Wait Time Pilot project.


Graeme Abrahams, Deployment Lead
E-mail: graeme@aohc.org

Graeme is primarily involved in the planning of and preparation for EMR rollout. An IT professional with 15 years’ experience, Graeme has a background in major business systems and technical infrastructure deployments. Previous to joining AOHC, he was a senior member of the team that successfully implemented the Cloud-based Client Health Related Information System (CHRIS) to CCACs across Ontario. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in Applied Social Administration, Certificate in Business Systems and Computer Programming, Microsoft Certified Systems Administration designation and is a Human Resources Certified Professional in Ontario.


Non Operational Reporting & Analytics (NORA/BIRT) Stream


Nasreen Visram, IMS Business Lead
E-mail: nasreen@aohc.org

Nasreen has over 20 years of experience in Pharmacy Practice and Health Care Information Systems. This experience encompasses areas of project management, business and technical requirements, policy and program development, procurement of goods and services, as well as development, implementation and adoption of provincial e-health solutions.

Mark Mycyk Senior Technical Coordinator
E-mail: mark@aohc.org

Mark Mycyk joined the BIRT team in August 2012.  He has been working in health care Information Management/Decision Support and BI since 2007 working at various Hospitals across Ontario and the GTA.  Most recently Mark was the manager of BI development in Access to Care at Cancer Care Ontario where he managed the project development and operations of the BI tool iPort Access used by over 120 Health facilities as part of the Ontario Wait Times Strategy.   Mark is an enthusiastic coach for many community sports teams.

Ontario Healthcare Reporting Standards (OHRS) Stream

Sheila Braidek, Executive Director, Regent Park CHC
Contact: 416-364-3030 ext. 2309      
E-mail:  sheilab@regentparkchc.org


IMS General Contact Information
To learn more about the CHC Information Management Strategy, email us at ims@aohc.org.