Healthcare Change Makers

In a special live studio recording, staff at HIROC had the opportunity to hear from Huda Idrees, founder and CEO of Dot Health.

With host Philip De Souza, Huda talks about how the burgeoning startup is leveraging partnerships in tech, healthcare and government to change the way we view patient data.

Huda offers advice for healthcare leaders on improving the sustainability and efficiency of healthcare organizations.

Key Takeaways:

• [1:13] Dot Health is about helping all Canadians get access to their own medical information

• [2:04] Canada's publically-funded healthcare system creates unique challenges for empowering patients; how Dot is working with government to address these challenges

• [5:46] Balancing risks associated with data collection with advantages, and communicating best practices in information security to Canadians

• [8:35] The Twitter feeds Huda looks to for hope about the future of innovative health tech

• [12:20] Engineering as an education is about teaching you how to think; what Huda took from her experience at the University of Toronto and how she fell into tech

• [14:50] Everyone is looking for a way to move health data around to improve patient outcomes; how Dot is building partnerships to move data globally

• [17:40] How building equitable workspaces, especially in the tech industry, relates to accessible health information

• [21:20] How the upcoming federal election in Canada will impact the future of healthcare accessibility

• [22:48] For hospital leadership, paying attention to what the patient experience looks like can drastically improve an institution's sustainability and efficiency

• [25:40] How patient stories have influenced Huda and the work at Dot Health

• [27:49] What Dot Health did to move ahead with innovation while keeping privacy and security top of mind

• [30:33] Getting the first users of Dot to jump on board

• [33:29] Who Dot Health's main clients are today

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Dot Health

• Toomas Ilves (Past-President of Estonia)

• Maple

• Reacts

• Dialogue

• Verto

• Julie Drury

• Dr. Cathy Faulds

• Wattpad

• Wealthsimple

• Wave

• University of Toronto

Join host Ellen Gardner for a one-on-one conversation with David Diamond – President and CEO of Eastern Health in Newfoundland and Labrador.

David's healthcare career started in Human Resources and has taken him across the country with positions in eastern and western Canada. His time in Albert before the creation of Alberta Health Services taught him some important lessons around bringing an organization together and developing commitment to strategic goals.

Today through Eastern Health's Living Lab innovation centre, David and his team are developing strong partners around the world to influence projects, enhance safety, and cut costs in the region.

Key Takeaways:

[4:34] How David's time in Alberta, during the early transformation of Alberta Health Services, has influenced his work at Eastern Health [6:50] How David and his team have aligned the organization around a strategic plan [9:51] Finding significant savings within the health system to respond to financial and population health challenges [12:39] Pushing an innovation agenda in the province to benefit patient care and cost savings [13:29] Eastern Health's Living Lab leverages partnerships nationally and internationally to match expertise from the private sector to clinical leaders in healthcare [17:40] Looking toward best practices in other sectors around the world – how connecting with Ireland, Spain and Israel is helping to drive Eastern Health projects [21:13] Why value-based procurement is a major focus for David and his team [28:16] How high-reliability industries can be used to model change in healthcare, especially around quality and patient safety [28:47] Population health is a critical focus in Atlantic Canada – how to move the dial

Mentioned in this Episode: Alberta Health Services Central Health Deloitte IBM Mobia Medtronic Vision33 Memorial University Newfoundland & Labrador Centre for Health Information Enterprise Ireland University of Tennessee

This special episode of Healthcare Change Makers was recorded at the 2019 HIROC Conference.

On this episode, host Michelle Holden, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, sits down with Dr. Jeff Klassen, Emergency Physician at St. Boniface Hospital.

Dr. Klassen speaks to effective teamwork and communication, sharing the work he is doing at St. Boniface with the TeamSTEPPS program, and his views on the importance of psychological safety in healthcare.

Key Takeaways:

[1:13] What is TeamSTEPPS and how it began

[2:10] The early phases of TeamSTEPPS at St. Boniface

[2:58] Why the concept of psychological safety didn't immediately take off

[3:58] How St. Boniface leveraged their team and social media to make psychological safety attractive

[6:47] A shift in emergency care in Winnipeg shows how resilient staff at St. Boniface are

[7:57] Why Dr. Klassen has been drawn to patient safety throughout his career

[10:00] The Canadian Patient Safety Institute's database on TeamSTEPPS

[10:30] What Connor McDavid's gameplay and medical error have in common

[11:21] Why Dr. Klassen uses stories and analogies to help convey patient safety information

Mentioned in this Episode:

St. Boniface Hospital, Winnipeg

TeamSTEPPS Canada

University of Manitoba

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)

Department of Defense (US)

Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI)

Listen to more interviews with healthcare leaders at HIROC.com.

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Email us at [email protected].

Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Elizabeth Brandeis, President of the Board of the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM).

For Elizabeth, the road to becoming a midwife started with her own personal experience with midwifery care, during the birth of her daughter 25 years ago. Now, on the 25th anniversary of regulated midwifery in Ontario, she looks back on where we've been and where we are headed.

Elizabeth speaks to the long history of midwifery in Ontario. As President of the Board of the AOM, she shares her view on the critical role the AOM has played in developing a model of care that promotes partnership and informed choice.

Key Takeaways:

[1:18] The unique history of midwifery in Ontario

[2:27] The resurgence of Indigenous midwifery in Ontario

[3:21] Funding for Indigenous midwives within the Ontario midwifery program

[4:29] Elizabeth's own experience with midwifery care and her exposure to the model and the issues that the newly-regulated profession was facing at the time

[7:00] How the midwifery model can be applied to other aspects of the healthcare system (palliative care, senior care, acute care)

[9:30] Championing pay equity for midwives and how it sets a precedence for gender equity legislation

[14:00] The unpredictability of midwifery as a constant challenge (along with a lack of sleep)

[15:02] How the Ontario model blends beneficial elements of midwifery from different systems across the world

[18:15] The current misconceptions around what midwives do, with a view toward shifting these misconceptions in the future

[19:50] Midwives make a difference because they create true partnership and promote informed choice with their clients

[23:40] Elizabeth's mentors – the giants whose shoulders she stands on

[27:05] Transforming the view of midwives as leaders in healthcare

[28:09] Who runs the world – girls, a song that motivates Elizabeth

Mentioned in this Episode:

Six Nations Birthing Centre

Jay MacGillivray

Elizabeth Allemang

Katrina Kilroy

Vicki Van Wagner

Toronto Birth Centre

National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM)

Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com

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Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences.

Rob MacIsaac followed his father's advice to become a professional, but after a couple of years as a lawyer, he realized he was drawn to public service. Without being a subject matter expert in any of the diverse roles he's had – at Mohawk College, at Metrolinx, as mayor of the City of Burlington – Rob has developed a leadership philosophy built on humble inquiry and bringing people together around a vision. He is now CEO of one of Hamilton's biggest employers, Hamilton Health Sciences, a city onto itself comprised of 7 hospitals, a cancer centre, an urgent care centre, and over 11,000 employees. For someone who loves change and rushes toward big projects, Hamilton Health Sciences is a perfect fit – the hospital is in the early stages of a massive 20-year transformation plan called Our Healthy Future.

Key Takeaways:

[1:02] How Rob stays connected to staff across the organization

[1:28] How 'Teach Rob Your Job' became a successful technique for meeting frontline workers

[5:35] Rob has had to develop a contribution around leadership for every role he's held

[6:30] A key influencer in Rob's life has been Clay Christensen, author of How will you measure your life?

[7:10] The philosophy that has guided Rob's career

[8:45] Why Rob moved from Mohawk College to Hamilton Health Sciences

[13:30] How Our Healthy Future is part of a larger strategy for the hospital, focussed on four directions

[14:55] How healthcare can benefit from ideas taken from other sectors

[16:32] How a series of public consultations helped shape Our Healthy Future

[20:29] Why Rob is attracted to big transformation projects

[20:41] His principle motivation - we all have a chance to leave our community a little better than the way we found it

[21:20] The three responsibilities a chief executive always has to keep in mind

[25:43] Why looking at the city of Hamilton today – prosperous and still gritty – makes Rob smile

Mentioned in this Episode:

Hamilton Health Sciences

Our Healthy Future

Mohawk College

Metrolinx

The City of Burlington

The City of Hamilton

Clay Christensen

The World Business Forum

Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Fast and Slow

Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com

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Email us at [email protected].

Today, your host Michelle Holden, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Deborah Gillis, President and CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation, and Carrie Fletcher, VP of People and Experience at CAMH.

Deborah and Carrie share the path that got them to where they are today and the important role that sponsors and champions have played in both of their lives.

As former CEO of Catalyst, a global non-profit dedicated to advancing women in leadership, Deborah Gillis has spent much of her career focused on workplace equality and empowerment for women. She's been on all sides of the table and has seen the value of having champions who advocate for others.

Throughout her career, Carrie Fletcher has spent time on the front lines of healthcare, in health information management, and today she's stepping up to the challenge of leading and supporting the staff at CAMH as VP of People and Experience. Carrie speaks to the importance of normalizing the conversation around mental health and what CAMH is doing to enhance staff collaboration and leadership development.

Key Takeaways:

[0:55] What inspired Deborah to pursue a career advocating for change

[1:55] Why Deborah joined the CAMH Foundation and what she's focused on today

[2:43] Deborah on the distinction between sponsorship and mentorship and the importance of having a sponsor

[3:59] How Deborah has benefited from champions in her career and her advice for women looking for champions

[5:40] Carrie's recent career shift to Vice President of People and Experience at CAMH, a journey that speaks to the role of champions and speaking up for those who have the skillset

[8:18] How Carrie applies the clinical knowledge she gained in past experience to her current role in working with staff and with union partners

[10:15] Research shows that women are over mentored and under sponsored. Deborah speaks to why mentorship is critical

[13:01] Leadership development and skill recognition at CAMH

[16:33] Normalizing the conversation around mental illness in the workplace

[18:41] How CAMH is harnessing the power of data to help deliver better care for their patients and implementing practices that can be beneficial to external partners

[21:45] Creating a psychologically safe workplace extends not only to the employee but to their broader family

[23:12] Staff collaboration at CAMH and driving innovative thinking

[31:10] What International Women's Day means to Carrie and Deborah

Mentioned in this Episode:

Catalyst

CAMH

CAMH Foundation

Fast Company

Listen to more interviews at HIROC.com.

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Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with the four leaders whose organizations have formed a new collaboration to advance the safety of obstetrical and perinatal care in Canada.

Each year approximately 380,000 children are born in Canada. The majority of births occur safely, but patient safety events do occur, and while rare, these events can be associated with severe patient outcomes. HIROC, SOGC, and the CMPA have joined forces as partners in Salus Global to help address and reduce these rare events and improve the safety of care for mothers and newborns across the country.

HIROC and the SOGC have worked closely with Salus Global for years. In November 2017 they welcomed the newest member of the partnership, the CMPA – Canada's largest physician organization with 100,000 members.

The partners now share equal ownership in Salus Global whose flagship program, the MOREOB program, is designed to create a culture of patient safety and performance improvement for interprofessional obstetrical teams. Together with the CMPA, the partners hope to build greater awareness and improved involvement in the MOREOB program.

Guests:

Catherine Gaulton, CEO, HIROC

Dr. Jennifer Blake, CEO, Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC)

Dr. Hartley Stern, Executive Director and CEO, Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA)

Malcolm Eade, President and CEO, Salus Global

Key Takeaways:

[1:47] Catherine: What this collaborative and Salus Global hope to achieve together

[3:05] Catherine: Why you need a consistent voice when you want people to act as a team

[3:57] Catherine: How HIROC's vision of partnering to create the safest healthcare system is a perfect fit with this collaboration

[5:52] Catherine: The value of giving a wide variety of healthcare professionals in different environments the opportunity to collaborate around a program dedicated to the delivery of safe perinatal care

[9:53] Dr. Blake: Why this collaboration lets us imagine a future where no preventable harm comes to a mother or baby

[10:15] Dr. Blake: What it's going to take to move in a positive direction with our combined strengths

[12:40] Dr. Stern: The single most important thing that this partnership brings together

[14:14] Dr. Stern: Why people caring about each other in the birthing suite reduces the likelihood of things going wrong

[15:36] Malcolm: How the MOREOB program changes the culture of the obstetrical unit

[15:59] Malcolm: Why overnight success in this business takes three years

[16:57] Malcolm: How Salus Global goes about changing the culture in a way that leads to better outcomes

[17:56] Malcolm: Why young men and women did not choose obstetrics as a career at the turn of the century and why malpractice rates were going up

[20:25] Malcolm: Why the CMPA joining the partnership is vindicating and validates the work of Salus Global

Mentioned in this Episode:

Salus Global

The MOREOB program

HIROC

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada

The ALARM course (SOGC)

The Canadian Medical Protective Association

Listen to more interviews with healthcare leaders at HIROC.com

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Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Julia Hanigsberg, President and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

There are many reasons that Julia Hanigsberg was drawn to a position in healthcare and she admits most of them have to do with family. Throughout her daughter's life (born at just 29 weeks and now at 22), Julia and her family have been accessing many healthcare services that her daughter needed to be successful. Her admiration for the skill and resilience that healthcare providers bring to their jobs has grown since she joined Holland Bloorview, and today, as CEO, one of her key priorities is to break down barriers that get in their way and ensure that workers are supported and cared for. The stigma around youth and children with disabilities still exists, but under Julia's leadership the hospital has taken a deliberate approach to reducing stigma that has made leading and modelling social change a part of their corporate strategy – the most visible element being a transformative anti-stigma campaign called Dear Everybody.

Key Takeaways:

[1:28] Why her own lack of self-confidence in science and math led Julia to become very passionate about STEM education for all young people

[5:13] The key leadership quality that Julia values in others and epitomizes herself

[8:24] How having the personal experience of accessing healthcare services has helped Julia in her role at Holland Bloorview

[13:10] How Julia and her leadership team are enabling a culture of innovation and collaboration

[16:21] The exercise of developing a risk appetite statement and moving the hospital's level of risk tolerance to moderate, especially as it relates to taking on more complex patients and expansion of research

[20:06] Why all patients should have the right to research in the areas of their healthcare

[22:17] How scientists, researchers and engineers at Holland Bloorview are developing solutions that enable families and youth to have better functional lives

[25:00] The hospital's approach to stigma around disability has not been one of judgment but of education and understanding

[25:35] How the Dear Everybody campaign has given children and youth the opportunity to tell the world what they wished everyone knew about them and not to define them by their disability

[29:06] How Holland Bloorview helps children develop their own self-advocacy

[32:50] A difficult moment in Julia's career

[34:54] Julia's priorities as leader

[37:54] Why observing the people who work in healthcare gives Julia confidence in our healthcare system and what we can accomplish collectively

[38:50] How social media has connected Julia to students, to colleagues in healthcare, to research, to patients, and expanded her circle

Mentioned in this Episode:

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Ryerson University

STEM Education

Dear Everybody – Campaign to end disability stigma

Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com

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Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Brendan Carr, President and CEO of William Osler Health System.

He had always wanted to be a physician, but Brendan Carr's educational journey started in business when he acquired an MBA. That experience – and time as a commanding officer in the naval reserve – taught him the value of situational leadership and the power of leading through influence and seeking different perspectives and ideas from those around him. That belief has been reinforced as a healthcare leader, where he feels the best ideas and chance for impact come from the end user.

The opportunity to work in different healthcare systems across the country before coming to Osler has kept him curious and engaged. Brendan is acutely aware of the growing pressures on our healthcare system and the importance of not letting the drive towards greater efficiencies be done at the expense of quality and safety.

Key Takeaways:

[1:45] The value for Brendan of working in different healthcare systems

[3:30] Why the fruition of full integration across the country hasn't been possible

[6:20] Why local conditions do matter in terms of what we can achieve for patients

[7:19] Biggest accomplishment since he started in the job a year ago

[8:05] The favourite part of his job

[8:59] The fact that as leaders, we have to admit that at times we're driving our systems for efficiency at the expense of safety and quality

[12:28] Why every practitioner at Osler needs to know that in overcapacity situations, they can take whatever action is necessary to avoid a 'never event'

[16:35] His belief that our greatest opportunities for change have to be co-created, using design principles that are driven by the end user

[20:02] Earliest leadership lesson on why authoritarian leadership doesn't always work

[22:10] His belief that we need to love this system enough to let it evolve to where it needs to go, because it is not there right now

[23:55] What he loves about coming to Ontario and Osler – on any day, he can be at all sites and interact with staff, teams, patients and families

[25:35] The challenge of being an authentic leader

[29:02] Why it's rewarding to spend time with young, aspiring leaders

[32:01] Showing up for work every day as people and human beings has a huge impact

[34:05] Advice Brendan has received that has influenced his career and leadership style

Mentioned in this Episode:

William Osler Health System

Mid-Staffordshire disaster

Vancouver Island Health Authority

Nova Scotia Health Authority

Canadian Patient Safety Institute

Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com

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Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Karim Mamdani, President and CEO of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.

With a strong interest in building sustainability in the healthcare system, Karim started his healthcare career working with the OHA and PwC in systems management and finance. Before coming to Ontario Shores in 2006 in the role of Chief Operating Officer, Karim worked at a number of academic health science centres – the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University Health Network and the Hospital for Sick Children. He was drawn to mental health as the area in healthcare where we have yet to achieve significant breakthroughs. As the 2017 recipient of the Aird and Berlis LLP Award for CEO Human Resources Champion, Karim has cultivated a leadership style that encourages open and honest conversations, ongoing training, and being as human as possible.

Key Takeaways:

[3:51] Why financial modelling is important in healthcare

[5:22] Karim's interest in leveraging his knowledge of health systems and financial methodologies in order to influence the healthcare system in a larger way

[8:15] What drew Karim to working in the area of mental health

[11:37] Why it's important to Karim to make himself as available to staff as possible

[16:16:] The biggest problem in organizations is that they don't recognize that mental health issues are a part of their workforce

[18:21] Why partnering is essential in enabling Ontario Shores to deliver for its patients

[20:53] Plans for celebrating Ontario Shores 100th anniversary and honouring the work that was done that made it possible to survive 100 years

[24:15] How Karim looks after his own mental health and why having an optimistic attitude is important

Mentioned in this Episode:

Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences

CAMH - The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Aird and Berlis LLP HR Awards

Talking about Mental Illness (TAMI)

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com

Follow us on Twitter, and listen on iTunes and Google Play Music.

Email us at [email protected].