The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) Conference will be held at the Westin Habour Castle Hotel in Toronto from June 11-13, 2002 and will be hosted by Cancer Care Ontario. The meeting theme is "Achieving Equity in Cancer Control." NAACCR is a professional organization that develops and promotes uniform data standards for cancer registries. NAACCR also provides education and training; certifies population-based registries; aggregates and publishes data from central cancer registries; and promotes the use of cancer surveillance data and systems for cancer control and epidemiological research, public health programs; and patient care to reduce the burden of cancer in North America. For more information: www.naaccr.org or contact Darlene Dale at Cancer Care Ontario at Darlene.Dale@cancercare.on.ca.

Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital officially launched its state-of-the-art integrated electronic health record for children called Health Information Network (HiNet) operated by the electronic Child Health Network (eCHN). Visit the hospital's website at https://www.osmh.on.ca.

Charles C. Emery, Jr., Ph.D., senior vice president and CIO, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, has been named the John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.

HIMSS also recognized its Article of the Year: "Putting the Web to Work at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia" (published in the Spring 2000 Journal of Healthcare Information Management) by Evan Crawford, director, client computing, and Brian Pomeroy, MAIP webmaster, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. HIMSS Book of the Year is Technology and the Future of Health Care: Preparing for the Next 30 Years (published by Jossey-Bass and the AHA Press). Author is David Ellis, senior partner, Integrated Business Portals, Inc., Lansing, Michigan.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society provides leadership in healthcare for the management of technology, information, and change through publications, educational opportunities, and member services. HIMSS has more than 41 chapters and more than 11,000 members working in healthcare organizations throughout the world. Members include healthcare professionals in hospitals, corporate healthcare systems, clinical practice groups, vendor organizations, healthcare consulting firms, and government settings in professional levels ranging from senior staff to CIOs and CEOs. Web site: www.himss.org.

Here is the 2001/02 HIMSS Ontario Chapter Board:

The Board of Directors of National HIMSS has approved the concept of international affiliation under the new Unified Membership program. National HIMSS has over 36 chapters and 12,000 members working in healthcare organizations throughout the world. Chapters - such as the Ontario HIMSS Chapter - provide the valuable links between healthcare professionals in close proximity.

This unification of membership will bring new strength and vitality to both the Ontario Chapter and National as we expect more members to become more involved in our activities.

ElectronicHealthcare is pleased to work in collaboration with HIMSS.

BCE Emergis Inc., a provider of B2B e-commerce services and exchanges, and Clarica Life Insurance Company announced the creation of an integrated health and dental claims exchange that will offer complete claims processing of benefits over the web. According to the "Group Universe Report" published by The Fraser Group, the 1999 group health claims market in Canada totalled approximately $9.2 billion, of which Clarica has a 10% share. As initial founding partner, Clarica will invest in the exchange and, for an initial term of five years, use it for all of its health and dental claims. BCE Emergis has designed and will develop, build and operate and own the Web-enabled systems.

For more information: sylvia.morin@emergis.com.

The Toronto Branch of Sierra Systems has moved to a new location: 366 Bay Street, Suite 700, Toronto, M5H 4B2. Contact: Joy Ang, Health Care Practice, 416-777-1212.

Hewlett-Packard and Compaq want to create an $87 Billion Global Technology Leader. If this meets all regulatory approvals the new HP claims it will have #1 worldwide positions in servers, PCs & handhelds, and imaging & printing as well as strong positions in IT services, storage, and management software.

The new company would have operations in more than 160 countries and over 145,000 employees.
The companies aim to close the deal during the first half of 2002.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Foundation, in partnership with AUTROS Healthcare Solutions Inc., announced its first US healthcare site for its Failsafe Medication Management System Design (F.M.M.S.D.) study. Northwestern Medical Center, St. Albans, Vermont, will be the first hospital to actively participate in this project using the AUTROS System as the focus for this study.

The objectives of the research demonstration project are to develop, implement and test (1) the effectiveness of ideal design principles for a multidisciplinary coordinated, technology-driven medication-use system, (2) the effectiveness of essential performance standards for health professionals involved in the medication-use system, and (3) the effectiveness of the system on patient safety. Contact:Tova Manett, manettt@autros.com

Picis, provider of anesthesia and critical care solutions, announced that Calgary Health Region in Alberta,has implemented the Picis CareSuite (TM) solution to capture and document real-time patient data in the perioperative environment at Alberta Children's Hospital. The hospital handles approximately 274,000 patient visits each year in a 115-bed facility and is a tertiary referral center for Southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.

Eastman Kodak Company announced it has entered into a global agreement with EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, making EMC the preferred provider of on-line information storage systems and software for the new Kodak DirectView PACS (picture archiving and communications system) family.

The University of Waterloo has launched a diploma program in Applied Health Informatics with Mitra Imaging as its first industry partner.

The Education Program for Health Informatics Professionals (EPHIP) will be taught via distance education, and will be available to Health Informatics professionals throughout North America. Successful students will be awarded certificates and a diploma from the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics.

Waterloo-based Mitra became the first EPHIP Partner, providing $50,000 cash support critical to the launch of EPHIP.

For more information contact Erin Bow, University of Waterloo at ebow@csg.uwaterloo.ca.

In related news, Agfa announced its intent to acquire Mitra - a long-term partner. Mitra is one of the world's leading providers of imaging and information management systems for the healthcare enterprise, and has played an integral role in the development and success of Agfa's IMPAX PACS solutions for the past 10 years. Mitra is a Canadian success story; its range of technologies, installed in thousands of institutions around the world, facilitate all steps in the clinical process, from ordering to diagnostic procedures and interpretation, to results distribution and integration of the electronic patient record.

Still related. Agfa has become Agfa HealthCare as it moves beyond pure radiographic imaging towards its mandate to be a major force in the Hospital Informatics market.

For more information, contact: Mariann Lawrie, Agfa Inc., at mariann.lawrie.ml1@ca.agfa.com.

Frank Scarpino has announced that his company - Solution Alternatives Inc. (Information Technology Architecture Consultants) now includes: Junior Groves, Director, Technology Architecture and Services; Angela Rea-Mahoney, Project Manager; Michael Santos, Webmaster and Information Technology Consultant; and Faud Hassan. For more information email info@solutionalternatives.com.

Robert Lewis has joined the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS) as the Administration and Systems manager. Check this out: www.oanhss.org has a new look!

Did you know:? Aramark's premium coffee products come from Starbucks? All part of a strategy to serve the best brands available. Not high tech. Just high class.

Here is some information about two recent additions to the HealthLink team.

Rob Barbara has accepted a six-month contract to work with HealthLink in a Corporate Development role. Reporting to the CEO, Rob will be focused on developing and implementing plans to grow HealthLink through merger, sale, acquisition and/or amalgamation with shareholder operations. Prior to joining HealthLink, Rob was co-Founder, President and CFO of eSaveo, an internet-based medical communications company. He has also been Vice President, Investment Banking with TD Securities Inc. and an Economist with the Department of Fisheries & Oceans.

Dr. Tariq Kassum joined HealthLink in July to work on special projects after graduating with honors from the Doctor of Medicine program at the University of Toronto. While earning his MD degree, Tariq did extensive research in medical informatics. His decision-support project on GI bleeding won the Toronto Hospital's research competition for Residents and Fellows in 1998.

For more information contact Rhonda Linton at HealthLink Clinical Data Network at 416.349.2609.

Microsoft selected eOptimize Inc. of Kamloops, British Columbia, as Winner in the Best Vertical-focused Solution category for the MEC Awards 2001. This award recognizes About:Time(TM) for Healthcare as the solution that delivers greatest impact to strategic business processes in a vertical market, while extending the value of Exchange 2000 through the innovative and creative use of Exchange 2000 technologies. Judges noted that About:Time for Healthcare takes advantage of Exchange to facilitate collaboration and to push activity notifications to the desktop or browser. Visit the company web-site at https://www.eoptimize.com

Philips Medical Systems' new President is Ron Kaczorowski.

Ronald Dunn has been appointed Vice President, Canadian Operations for McKesson Information Solutions. You can each him at: Ronald.Dunn@McKesson.com

MediSolution continues to record new contracts.
A typical award announced was a $1.75 million contract that will see the company install MediResult, a healthcare order management system for laboratory and diagnostic imaging results. The customer is the eight hospitals of the regional council for health and social services for the healthcare region of Lower St. Lawrence, Quebec. For more information contact Pat Artinoff at patrick.artinoff@medisolution.com.

The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded $50 million in new grants, contracts, and other activities to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety. This represents the single largest investment the US Federal Government has made so far to combat the estimated (US figures) 44,000-98,000 patient deaths related to medical errors each year.

Part of a multiyear effort, these Fiscal Year 2001 projects will address key unanswered questions about how errors occur and will provide science-based information on what patients, clinicians, hospital and other organization leaders, policymakers, and others can do to address this important problem.

The results of the research will include information on errors and patient safety improvement strategies.

You can obtain more information at: https://www.ahrq.gov/qual/newgrants/

These announcements from Toronto's Shared Healthcare Supply Services (SHSS)

• Savings and cost avoidance for member hospitals have reached $34 million in the last three years.
  
• These appointments: Patrick Smith - Director, Purchasing; Robert Cullen - Director, Materials Management; and Richard Giesbrecht - President & CEO.
  
• Its own warehouse by Oct. 1st, 2002.
  
• Relocation to Suite 500, 439 University Avenue, Toronto M5G 1Y8

As ARAMARK continues to grow they can be found recruiting in:Central Vancouver Island, BC, Fraser Valley region, BC, Cochrane, AB, Saskatchewan, Southwestern Ontario, Toronto, ON, Niagara, ON, Kingston, ON, Kitchener / Waterloo,ON, Belleville, ON, Burlington, ON, Ottawa, ON, Halifax, NS, Eastern CanadaFor more information go to ARAMARK.ca

On the heals of a successful pilot program at Winnipeg's Victoria General Hospital (VGH), ORMED announced it will now be rolling out its ORMED X (for exchange) program. VGH was a pilot site for the on-line purchase of supplies. For more information contact Chris Sherback at chris_sherback@ormed.com.

And the winners are:
The Ted Freedman Innovation in Education Award 2001 Winner is The Ottawa Hospital, K.O.A.L.A. TM Development Team: Dr. Michael Fung Kee Fung, Dr. Karen Fung Kee Fung, Dr. Mark Walker, Sergio Miguel, Chantal Lacasse, in recognition of the development and provision of their "K.O.A.L.A. TM Computerized Obstetrics and Gynaecology Auto-mated Learning Analysis."

The winner of the 2001 Certificate of Excellence Award is London Health Sciences Centre Multi-Organ Transplant Program in recognition of their outstanding submission to the Ted Freedman Award for Innovation in Education in Health, Health Services and Health Management for their project "One Life…Many Gifts, a health education program."

Presentation to the winners was made at the annual convention of the Ontario Hospital Association held in November.

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