Abstract

The establishment of a decision support management and planning process at Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto, Ontario, has driven operational and physical changes at Canada's largest children's rehabilitation, teaching and academic health centre. Decision support provides Bloorview management with integrated, evidence-based and user-friendly tools to plan programs and allocate resources; measure organizational, program and staff performances; and provide timely accountability to the province's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Not only has Bloorview shifted the internal culture to engage staff in planning the decision support system and developing meaningful data, but the hospital has also situated decision support within the hospital's Planning and Organizational Effectiveness Department, supporting an integrated model of organizational performance. Users' and management's endorsement of decision support processes is foundational to our organizational and program effectiveness.