Community Learning Space

The infraNET Project and 
Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Research
University of Waterloo


present ...


NORTH Network
and the Future of Telemedicine
 

by

Edward Brown, MD
Executive Director, NORTH Network

Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre

Wednesday, October 27, 2004
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.


Davis Centre, Room 1302
University of Waterloo

This seminar is of interest to Health and IT Executives, IS/IT Staff, Faculty and Students.

Presentation Archive 2004-2005

Abstract

The NORTH Network provides telemedicine services in northern and central Ontario and supports over 100 sites, including 65 hospitals, 11 nursing stations and three regional cancer centres. The Network delivers a wide range of health services in areas such as psychiatry, dermatology, cardiology, neurology, paediatrics and geriatrics, as well as emergency services for stroke and burn management. Telemedicine uses videoconferencing telecommunications and electronic medical devices, such as digital stethoscopes, to virtually connect patients to health professionals. There have been over 15,000 medical consultations through NORTH Network since its inception and use continues to grow rapidly. This presentation will provide an overview of how NORTH Network works, the successes and challenges, and the exciting new applications which will transform our health care system.

Dr. Edward Brown is an emergency physician and is the founder and Executive Director of the NORTH Network Telemedicine Program which he has been developing since 1993. NORTH Network has recently completed a two-year, $20 million expansion making it one of the largest telehealth networks in Canada. Prior to founding NORTH Network, Dr. Brown worked as a consultant for the Ontario Government's Smart Systems for Health initiative and was Associate Faculty at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario (ICES). Before embarking on his medical career, Dr. Brown studied mathematics and engineering at the University of Waterloo as a co-op student and worked as a Systems Engineer at IBM Canada Ltd.

Dr. Brown is a member of the Operational Space Medicine Advisory Panel of the Canadian Space Agency, Astronaut Office and currently sits as a member of the Toronto District Health Council Systems & IT Task Force. He has been a board member of the Canadian Society of Telehealth since 2000 and is currently chair of the nominating committee. Dr. Brown is the recipient of the 2003 CANARIE I-WAY award for national leadership in the development of Canada's information highway, "Application of Technology" category. He is also the winner of Canadian Healthcare Manager magazine's 2003 "Who's Who in Healthcare Award" in the "Technology" category.

For more information

Shirley Fenton
Managing Director, WIHIR
The infraNET Project
Computer Systems Group, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4074

Seminar Hosts

This seminar is hosted by the Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Research (WIHIR) and The infraNET Project, University of Waterloo.

The infraNET Project, initiated by the University of Waterloo in 1996, is a partnership to advance Web and Internet technologies. Its founding partners are: LivePage (now part of Siebel), MKS, Open Text, RIM, Sybase (Waterloo) and Waterloo Maple.

We also gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Institute for Computer Research, University of Waterloo.