Community Learning Space

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


present ...


Developing an Integrated Health Intelligence System:
The RAI-Health Informatics Project (RAI-HIP)


by

Dr. John Hirdes
Professor, Health Studies and Gerontology
University of Waterloo 

Wednesday, April 28, 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.
There is no charge for this event, however, we ask that you register to attend.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Presentation Archive 2003-2004

Canada's health care system faces numerous challenges, including rising costs, increased diversification and complexity of service delivery, technological advancements, and changes in public expectations. The availability of high quality evidence on health and health care in Canada is a key determinant of our ability to make informed choices about future directions in health and social policy. The RAI-Health Informatics Project (RAI-HIP) was established in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences in 1999 as part of a 24-country collaboration on the development, application, implementation, evaluation and refinement of the interRAI family of assessment instruments. The interRAI instruments are designed to serve multiple applications for multiple audiences, including clinicians, administrators, policy makers and the general public. 

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recently designated interRAI s home care and long term care instruments to be part of their national reporting systems for those sectors of health care. With new interRAI instruments in psychiatry, palliative care, acute care, rehabilitation, assisted living and community health, there is now a realistic potential for an integrated health intelligence system covering the major sectors of the health care system. This presentation provides an overview of progress to date and the road ahead for research and application of these instruments in Canada.

John Hirdes, Professor in the Department of Health Studies and Gerontology at the University of Waterloo, is also cross-appointed to the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto; Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba; Gerontological Studies at McMaster University; and to the Department of Family and Nutritional Studies at the University of Guelph. He has conducted applied research in health care settings for nearly 20 years, and is Scientific Director of the Homewood Research Institute at Homewood Health Centre in Guelph.

He is a Fellow and Board Member of interRAI and is a representative of interRAI in Canada. Dr. Hirdes has served on the Psychiatric Working Group and Chronic Care and Rehabilitation Working Group of the Ontario Joint Policy and Planning Committee since 1994. His activities include consulting for the Romanow Commission developing an options paper and cost analysis for home care in Canada; serving as a member of the US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Technical Expert Panel for the Mega QI project; and advising Statistics Canada regarding the Canadian General Social Survey. Dr. Hirdes serves on the Canadian Institute for Health Information national expert panels for the Continuing Care Reporting System and Home Care Reporting System. In May 2000, he received a 5-year Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) in support of his work on Health Informatics for Aging Societies.

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.