UVic leads national health informatics initiative

UVic is the lead institution in a national health research training program to educate PhD and post-doctoral graduate students about health informaticsthe use of information technology in health care delivery systems.

The six-year, $1.57 million project is funded through a partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Dr. Francis Lau, director of UVic's school for health information science, will be the lead researcher.

"This collaborative project, involving eight universities, will give emerging scholars an understanding of the management and use of health information," says Lau. "Applying information technology to health care has enormous implications for research, organizing, storing and communicating health information, sharing diagnostic information and enhancing patient care."

For 20 years, UVic has been at the forefront of health informatics, offering the only degree program in Canada in health information science. Each year its graduates are in high demand for positions such as systems designers, researchers and systems analysts in all areas of the health care industry including hospitals and governments.

In response to increasing awareness about the need to expand health informatics' role in the delivery of health care systems, more and more universities are bringing new programs on line. Several of them, such as the Universities of Toronto, Waterloo and Sherbrooke, are partners in this strategic training initiative in health research.

Appropriately, the members of UVic's initiative will use information technology extensively for online and Web-based collaborations on related research projects.