ehealth leaders win national awards for outstanding contribution to ehealth
in Ontario

TORONTO , Nov. 20 /CNW/ - Ian Cummins , senior policy analyst at eHealth Ontario and Dr. James Lane , family physician at the Stayner Family Health Group, were both award winners at the 5th annual Canadian Health Informatics (COACH) Awards Gala, for their contributions to ehealth in Ontario.

"It is an honour to see these individuals recognized for their outstanding contributions to ehealth in Ontario," said Rob Devitt , interim president and chief executive officer, at eHealth Ontario. "Both Ian Cummins and Dr. Lane have been incredible leaders and have done a tremendous job in communicating the value ehealth will bring to patients across our province."

Ian Cummins won the Emerging Leader Award. This award recognizes individuals who are in the first five years of their health informatics career and have clearly demonstrated leadership and achieved early success in health informatics. Mr. Cummins helped establish the province's first eHealth Regulatory College Panel, a forum that brings professional regulators together to discuss emerging technologies, ranging from electronic prescribing to consumer solutions.

Ian continues to work pro-actively to identify policy issues facing a number of key provincial initiatives, including medication and diabetes management solutions.

Dr. James Lane was nominated by eHealth Ontario and won the Community-Based Physician Leader / Innovator Award. This award honours a community-based physician who has shown outstanding leadership or innovation in the use of health Information Technology in medical practice. Dr. Lane led the development and implementation of a merged database at the Georgian Bay Family Health Team. The database allows Georgian Bay Family Health Team clinicians to share documents and collaborate with each other through a single health record maintained for all their patients. The shared database ensures continuity in the care being provided by each clinician at the Georgian Bay Family Health Team.

Additionally, Dr. Lane led the Georgian Bay Family Health Team e-Prescribing Demonstration Project, acting as both the project lead and physician champion. The project moved paper-based prescribing online, allowing physicians to securely and electronically generate, authorize and transmit prescriptions to local pharmacies. ePrescribing is a key component of eHealth Ontario's Medication Management Strategy and is expected to dramatically improve patient safety and quality of care by reducing prescription errors.

The Canadian Health Informatics Awards and Gala are presented through a partnership between COACH and Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) health. The award program recognizes outstanding contributions to the health informatics profession in Canada . The program is based on a peer recognition nomination model.

eHealth Ontario is the organization that plays the leading role in harnessing technology and innovation to improve patient care, safety, and access in support of the Ontario government's health strategy. eHealth Ontario published the first ehealth strategy for Ontario in March 2009 , which is focused on providing a comprehensive, patient-focused, secure and private electronic system. eHealth Ontario will drive the transformation of Ontario's health care system, building toward an electronic health record for all Ontarians by 2015.

For further information: Heather Brown, Communications Advisor, eHealth Ontario, [phone], [email protected]