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April 2023 

 Dr. Jean-François Éthier, Scientific Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Health Informatics (GRIIS),  Attending Physician, Internal Medicine Department, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS), Lead for the technological development of the Health Data Research Network

This event was jointly presented by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and the Learning Health Systems Modeling Laboratory. 

Building the foundations for connected, agile and patient-centred care 

This seminar presented essential elements for the successful clinical implementation of LHS, using examples where technological and analytical opportunities are being exploited while being mindful of ethical, legal and social aspects. Drawing from a recent project on mortality prediction for hospitalized patients, Dr. Éthier illustrated how framing such initiatives as research projects vs. learning cycles impacts their clinical utility and patient results. Clinicians, researchers and managers were encouraged to advocate for elements of this approach in their environment.

A panel discussion followed Dr. Éthier’s presentation, moderated by Telfer Professor Emeritus Wojtek Michalowski. The panel explored challenges and opportunities for building a foundation for connected, agile and patient-centred care and whether this requires large, system-wide changes, or multitude of small changes at the service delivery or patient front.

Panel Discussion:

  • Dr. Wojtek Michalowski, Emeritis Professor, Telfer School of Management, Co-lead, Telfer Health Tranformation Exchange (moderator)
  • Dr. Jean-François Éthier, Scientific Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Health Informatics (GRIIS)
  • Dr. Lysanne Lessard, Associate Professor of Information Systems, Co-director of the Learning Health Systems Modeling Lab
  • Dr. Peter Tanuseputro, MD, MHSc, CCFP, FRCPC, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Associate Scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Investigator, Bruyère Research Institute, Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
  • Dr. Michael Fung-Kee-Fung, MBBS, FRCSC, MBA, Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa; Head of Surgical Oncology Program, The Ottawa Hospital; Medical Director, Champlain Regional Cancer Program; and Co-lead, Telfer Health Transformation Exchange

When: April 13th 2023 @ 5 – 7 pm ET | In-person Event at the Telfer School of Management 


February 2023 

Dr. Howard L. McLeod, FASCO, FCCP, Executive Director, Precision Health, Intermountain Health System, Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine

This event was jointly presented by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and the Champlain Regional Cancer Program. 

Intersection of Value-Based Care and Precision Medicine 

This seminar discussed how the delivery of value-based care and precision medicine are intertwined and present necessary conditions for both to be deployed across large health systems. Using examples from a system that includes 33 hospitals and around 400 clinics located in nine states, Dr. McLeod outlined key success factors for a learning health system to be successfully leveraged for care delivery. 

When: February 8th 2023 @ 5 – 6:30 pm ET | Online Event


September 2022

David L. Buckeridge, MD PhD FRCPC, Professor in the School of Population and Global Health and Cheif Digital Health Officer,  McGill University 

Translating AI into Practice in Healthcare – Looking Beyond the Algorithm

This event was jointly presented by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and the Champlain Regional Cancer Program. 

The potential for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care has been evident for decades and the opportunity has grown with increasing volumes of data and advances in machine learning. Despite this potential, the translation of AI-based innovations into healthcare practice has been limited by insufficient attention to practical challenges such as barriers to data access, technology debt, and limited AI expertise in healthcare systems. Potential solutions to these challenges exist, however, and health systems should address these challenges to create environments that support the translation of effective AI-based innovations to healthcare settings.

When: September 28th 2022 @ 5 – 6:30 pm ET | Online Event


May 2022 

Professor Meghana Pandit, MBBS, FRCOG, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Oxford University Hospitals

Delivering clinical care in complex times: The experience of Oxford University Hospitals

This event was jointly presented by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and the Champlain Regional Cancer Program. 

Oxford University Hospitals, with circa 14000 employees, is one of the largest healthcare providers in England. It offers secondary, tertiary and quaternary to the people of Oxfordshire, the Thames Valley and beyond with a million patient contacts each year. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed healthcare teams to novel challenges that required changes to their practice. This has been the most volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times in healthcare. Following the experience at Oxford University Hospitals, Dr. Meghana Pandit, Chief Medical Officer at Oxford University Hospitals, described the critical factors that support leaders in responding to VUCA situations. Dr. Pandit identified actions that make healthcare organizations more resilient and innovative and spoke about the next steps to recovery of clinical care and of its workforce. During a panel discussion, Dr. Fung-Kee-Fung discussed how this resonates with the Champlain Regional Cancer Care strategy.

When: May 17 @ 5 – 6:30 pm ET | Online Event 


September 2021

Dr. Okan Ekinci, MD, MBA, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Marketing & Innovation at Roche Information Solutions 

Achieving Clinical Agility – new ways of working and the evolving role of digitization in healthcare

This event was jointly presented by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and the Champlain Regional Cancer Program. 

Clinical agility within healthcare organizations is of critical importance. The COVID-19 pandemic has had direct and collateral impacts on patient care and care delivery. At the same time, it has been a catalyst for the re-design of patient-centered care. In this seminar, Dr. Okan Ekinci, SVP, Global Health of Marketing and Innovation at Roche, spoke about new ways of working and the evolving role of digitization in healthcare. Drawing on evidence, Dr. Ekinci explained how institutions are applying “clinical agility” to transform efficiently and effectively, key contributors to achieving clinical agility, and the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration as a driver of innovation.

When: Sept 29 @ 5 – 6:30 pm ET | Online Event 


Panel Discussion

  • Donna Maziak (Moderator), Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Ottawa; Division of Thoracic Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital
  • Lysanne Lessard, Associate Professor in Information Systems, Telfer School of Management
  • Wojtek Michalowski, Full Professor in Health Informatics and Decision Support, Telfer School of Management; and Co-lead, Telfer Health Transformation Exchange
  • Michael Fung-Kee-Fung, Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa; Head of Surgical Oncology Program, The Ottawa Hospital; Medical Director, Champlain Regional Cancer Program; and Co-lead, Telfer Health Transformation Exchange
  • Peter Liu, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President, Research, University of Ottawa Heart Institute; Director, Cardiac Function Laboratory, University of Ottawa Heart Institute

Telfer Forum – Learning Health Systems: Facilitating Health Care Innovation and Integration

This event was part of the Telfer Forum presented by the Telfer School of Management on May 26th 2021. 

Health care leaders and professionals have been working to make the health care system more agile and integrated. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exposed and accelerated the need for this transformation. Learning health systems align science, informatics, incentives and culture for continuous improvement and innovation. They allow health care organizations to share best practices and integrate new knowledge seamlessly.

On May 26, health system researchers and health care practitioners discussed the benefits and challenges of learning health systems. Lysanne Lessard (Telfer School of Management), Wojtek Michalowski (Telfer School of Management), Michael Fung-Kee-Fung (University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital), and Peter Liu (University of Ottawa Heart Institute) also explained how researchers and practitioners can collaborate to implement this framework in Canadian health care organizations.

Access the event highlights here.


January 2021

Dr. Justin E. Bekelman, MD, Director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation at the Abramson Cancer Center

Joint Telfer Health Transformation Exchange and Regional Champlain Cancer Program Event- Reimagining Cancer Care: Lessons Learned From the Penn Centre For Cancer Care Innovation

On January 28, 2021, THTex welcomed Justin E. Bekelman, MD, Director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation at the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Bekelman is a Professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology, Medicine, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, faculty in the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, and a Senior Fellow at the Penn Center for Precision Medicine and the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, all at the University of Pennsylvania. The event attracted over 90 participants from academia, regional hospitals, the government, and the private sector.

Dr. Bekelman described the basis of innovation in cancer care at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center and Penn Medicine and demonstrated both successes and lessons learned in implementing clinical transformation in health care in general and in cancer care specifically. The talk focused on the intersection of discipline of innovation and behavioral economics, working with patients, clinicians and organizations to dramatically improve quality and outcomes in cancer care. Dr. Bekelman attributes success at the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation to the following: 1) Empowering the team, 2) Reimagining the status quo, 3) Focusing on low-risk, high-yield experiments, 4) Putting safety first, and 5) Listening and adapting. Dr. Bekelman identified methods to improve uptake of state-of-the-art care that can have a significant and lasting impacts on length and quality of life for patients with cancer. https://www.pc3i.upenn.edu/


November 2020

Dr. Bob Bell, MDCM, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, FRCSE (hon), Former Deputy Minister of Health, Ontario

How good is the Canadian health system? Will private pay or private/public partnerships make it better?

The recent BC Superior Court decision in the Cambie case has focused attention on how good our Canadian health system is and whether private sources of capital would help to improve the quality of care that Canadians can access. This presentation will evaluate how Canadian healthcare stacks up against other international systems and will discuss how we can improve services. Lengthy waits for access have always been the major criticism of Canadian healthcare and these waits are substantially longer with COVID. Will private funding for medically necessary care or private/public partnerships improve access challenges?


November 2019

Panel Discussion

  • Ralf Wilden, Associate Professor of Strategy & Innovation, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, Australia and co-editor of Healthcare Entrepreneurship
  • Dr. Robin Boushey, Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Ottawa, Medical Director of the Ottawa Gastrointestinal Institute, Champlain LHIN
  • Dr. Joel Werier –Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Ottawa, Medical Director OWN network
  • Dr. Angel Arnaout–Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Ottawa, Associate Scientist, Cancer Therapeutics Program
  • Mr. Sanjay Shah – Founder and President ExecHealth Ottawa 

Liberating health care capacity in a publicly funded system through entrepreneurship–challenges and opportunities

The panel discussion on the role of entrepreneurship in transforming healthcare delivery took place at the Telfer School of Management on November 28, 2019.  The event attracted over 40 participants from academia, regional hospitals, government and private sector.  The discussion that followed was moderated by Dr. Michael Fung-Kee-Fung, Co-Director, Telfer Health Transformation Exchange; Cross Appointed Professor with the Telfer School of Management; Surgical Oncologist, The Ottawa Hospital.  The audience raised questions ranging from a mix of privately and publicly-funded care delivery, through creation of specialized care delivery enterprises (i.e. imaging, colonoscopy, endoscopy, etc.) within the publicly funded system, to organizational capacity to unleash entrepreneurial spirit.  All participants agreed that there is a need for similar events in the future.


April 2019

Michael Guerriere, President and Chief Executive Officer, Extendicare

Caring for the Seniors: New Paradigms to Meet a Growing Challenge

Addressing the care needs of the growing senior’s population asks for new and innovative paradigms. 

Such paradigms ask for new business models and financing strategies in order to build capacity in the system without driving costs to unsustainable levels.  Information Technology will have to be leveraged to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of resources required to meet seniors’ needs.  This has to be accompanied by an unprecedented level of collaboration between clinical professionals, informal caregivers and seniors.  A truly integrated care model that puts seniors and their families in charge for as long as possible is the key for the proposed paradigm to succeed.

In his presentation, Dr. Guerriere will explore these issues and present examples of innovative solutions that promise to address the challenge of caring for the senior’s population.


February 2019

Sanjay Cherian, Vice President Product Strategy, Telus Health

Health Ecosystem: Digital Connectivity and Collaboration in Primary Care

Given the plethora of healthcare technology: electronic medical records, consumer health, home health monitoring and pharmacy management solutions – our primary care system should be a highly connected, coordinated system. However, it is still very much fragmented from the patient and provider experience. Therefore, solutions and offerings are needed  that enable innovation in the healthcare landscape to drive better care for patients though an integrated primary care landscape.

Guided by a vision to enable better health impacts and underpinned by a cohesive strategy, Telus Health explores the power of technology to foster:

  • Connectivity: Reaching across the health ecosystem and connecting providers, patients and remunerators – with the tools and purpose to drive innovation and improved health outcomes
  • Collaboration: Creating the platform that enables healthcare providers to work and learn together breaking-down silos and coordinating  better care for patient

Join Sanjay Cherian, Vice President Product & Strategy, TELUS Health and The Telfer Health Transformation Exchange in this informative discussion on the journey towards a collaborative health ecosystem to strengthen primary care access for all Canadians.


October 2017

The Honourable Kelvin K. Ogilvie, Senator, Senate of Canada

Mayday… Canada’s Healthcare System in Crisis

On October 3, 2017, the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange hosted their second event of the year and were pleased to welcome guest speaker Senator Kevin Ogilvie. The speaker discussed Canada’s current healthcare system situation and presented his assessment of possible ways to improve it.

Senator Ogilvie advocated for systemic changes in the delivery and access to health services, including considering solutions that work in other OECD countries. During the talk, he provided numerous examples to illustrate which parts of the Canadian healthcare system do not work as they should. In conclusion, Senator Ogilvie stated that he is a firm believer in Canada’s ability to transform its healthcare system and that the technological innovation that we witness will be one of the main drivers of this transformation. There was a dynamic discussion from all points of the spectrum of opinions from around 100 participants.


April 2017

Jean-François Beaulé, FSA, Todd Staub, MD, Deneen Vojta, MD; UnitedHealth Group

Modernizing Health Care through Quality and Analytics with the Aim of Population Health

Click here for a .PDF of the Presentation. 


November 2016

Dr. Alain Mouttham, Institut de Recherche de l’Hôpital Montfort

Transforming our Hospitals: Clinician-Driven Operations Management

The Telfer School of Management welcomed over 70 health professionals, business leaders, civil servants and students on Wednesday, November 23, 2016, for an event organized by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange (THTex), featuring Dr. Alain Mouttham from the Institut de Recherche de l’Hôpital Monfort.

Dr. Mouttham’s presentation, entitled Transforming our Hospitals: Clinician-driven Operations Management, highlighted the fact that Canadian hospitals have to become patient-centered and value-based, and that this transformation is made possible by using a clinical operations management (COM) model. The COM model, which is driven by clinicians, goes beyond administration and IT led projects and looks at the processes from the perspectives of increasing efficiency and adding value.

During his presentation, Dr. Mouttham stated: ‘‘I believe that it is possible to have nurses and clinicians driving the transformation of hospitals, and it is starting,’’ which is why the proposed COM model responds to the specific needs of the hospitals in terms of processes, organization and information.

During the talk different ideas were presented for a hospital transformation ecosystem that should bring together hospitals, universities, non-profit start-ups and public agencies, forming incubators for hospital transformation.

The presentation was followed by a panel discussion. Serving on the panel was Dr. Alain Mouttham, Dr. Michael Fung-Kee-Fung, Professor at the Departments of Obstetrics/ Gynecology and Surgery at the University of Ottawa and Head of Surgical Oncology at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Program and the Ottawa Hospital, and Dr. Andrew Falconer, Chief of Staff at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. The panelists presented their views and experiences around the broad issue of hospital transformation and development of value-based care delivery models. The audience engaged in a series of questions centered on engagement, role of clinicians in hospital transformation, and the impact a single payer system has on fostering healthcare innovation.

Click here to view the PDF of the slideshow.


May 2016

Dr. Eric Isselbacher, MD, MHCDS, Director, Healthcare Transformation Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Innovation to Transform Healthcare: The Massachusetts General Hospital Experience

On Wednesday, May 18, 2016 health care professionals, business leaders, students and public servants gathered to attend an event organized by the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange (THTex), featuring Dr. Eric Isselbacher, Director of the Healthcare Transformation Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Isselbacher described the activities and role of the Healthcare Transformation Lab. Interestingly, he said that the biggest challenge for the Lab is to bring a culture of innovation to a very successful organization (the Massachusetts General Hospital is consistently ranked as a top hospital in the United States).

During his talk, Dr. Isselbacher stated that “innovation is set to fail” because of the nature of disruption it has the potential to unleash. With that in mind, his team focuses on each potential failure point and engages to transform potential failure into success.  

Finally, Dr. Isselbacher observed that a culture of innovation is firmly established in hospitals: “Innovation is a concept that is valued institutionally”, he says. His team is expanding the scope of its activities to more and more hospital departments.

After Dr. Isselbacher’s presentation, the audience engaged in a lively discussion centered on healthcare transformation, innovation strategies and a comparison between the American and Canadian healthcare systems.


March 2016

Dr. Douglas Wood, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C., Medical Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, Rochester, Minnesota

Innovate Health, Not Healthcare: The Mayo Clinic Experience

The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation’s experience in transforming how people achieve health offers new insights for delivery system innovation that will help patients and health care professionals.

The key to Mayo’s processes, led by designers, is to focus on what people in the community need in terms of health services. ‘‘The real measure of successful design is how well it works (…) and that is what we need in healthcare, that it work and that we work together.” Dr. Wood gave the audience examples of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation’s successful projects while explaining their design thinking approach and how Center’s designers worked to achieve the ‘‘innovation, the integration and navigation of health processes’’.

After the presentation, the audience engaged in lively discussion centered around healthcare transformation, new technology and integration of processes with the workplace culture.

A .pdf of Dr. Wood’s PowerPoint slides can be accessed here.  

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