In response to the health data challenges highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy (pCHDS) Expert Advisory Group (EAG)’s Third Report has made recommendations toward a world-class health data system.

As leaders, how do you ensure compassionate healthcare in an increasingly digital world? Is it even possible? Join organizational leaders and digital experts to learn what you can do to enhance compassionate quality care for patients and staff as you move your organization forward in an increasingly digital system. 

As we look to a post-pandemic world, healthcare industry leaders are asking themselves – how do we transform the technology we turned to in times of crisis into efficient, sustainable, secure solutions that drive quality, proactive care both within a hospital and in the community? Quality care delivered both within and beyond the hospital walls requires a range of foundational elements: informatics and data integration to deliver healthcare anywhere; interoperable, secure IT networks; and adoption of a cloud-based platform approach for flexibility and scalability. This session will discuss the need for a solid foundation on which new models of care delivery can be developed to provide connected, virtual, patient-centered care across the health continuum, bringing care closer to where patients are.

This presentation will explore how the University Health Network responded to the biggest public health challenge in a century and the many lessons it revealed about healthcare.

Opioid-related deaths have risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, increasing by 76% over the 12 months after implementation of public health measures.

The pandemic has contributed to this rise in opioid-related deaths and has worsened the tragic impacts of the opioid overdose crisis. The pandemic has also shown us what we can accomplish when we come together to address a significant public health crisis as a unified system.

This presentation will outline the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on opioid-related deaths, share examples of extraordinary efforts in Ontario’s pandemic response.

Join us for a dynamic, thought-provoking conversation with two leading experts in Quality Improvement. Drawing on lessons learned from the past, insights from the pandemic crisis and emerging trends from around the world, Leslee and Ross will dig into the realities of what it will take to improve healthcare quality as we move into the future. What are the new priorities for change and what are some ideas for tackling the barriers and opportunities ahead? In supporting healthcare leaders seeking to improve quality, what roles should governments/ government agencies, academics, the public, and Standards and Accreditation Bodies like HSO and Accreditation Canada play? This session will put the spotlight on hard realities and exciting opportunities for unleashing the next era of quality improvement, so that together we can move closer to a vision of safer care and more effective health systems.

This Healthcare Panel with Dr. Vivek Goel will provide the audience with insights into the current thinking of the pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy (pCHDS) Expert Advisory Group (EAG) on the barriers that must be overcome to establish a coherent pan-Canadian health data ecosystem, and the current unprecedented opportunity, due to the pandemic, for fundamental improvements.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone –  from governments, scientists, health systems, and the private sector – to work differently, almost overnight. The result was process and technology innovation deployment at unprecedented speeds. It was a stark contrast to the slow, often temporary, adoption of innovation. None of that would have been possible without the exceptional collaboration that occurred among stakeholders across sectors, both private and public.   This presentation will use examples from around the world and locally to discuss how we can continue to collaborate to engineer technological innovations and be bolder in adopting solutions to solve the next set of challenges facing the healthcare system, including strained health human resources, mounting wait lists, and structural and social barriers to care. 

There were huge inequities in rates of Covid-19 infection, hospitalization and deaths for low income and racialized groups. Data from the vaccination roll-out show similar disparities in immunization rates, but, these figures do not tell the full story. They do not tell the story of the many promising approaches developed at the community, primary care and hospital interfaces that have pushed Canada to the forefront of international discussions about sustainable health system recovery. This presentation will use examples from the pandemic to discuss how we can produce more effective and efficient health systems.