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OHA Health Achieve 2007 - thoughts from day 3 (final day) November 7, 2007

Posted by hans in : conferences & conventions , add a comment

After an eventful and interesting day 1 and day 2, the final day of the OHA Health Achieve convention drew to a close today.

Keynote Address: Queen Noor of Jordan
I’m not exactly sure why, but I was looking forward to this address by Queen Noor of Jordan. Her session was titled “Philanthropy in the 21st century”. Queen Noor talked about partnership being the key to success, and that philanthropy is the “love for human kind”. Based on her experience, she found that the most effective type of philanthropy is when people are empowered to help themselves. Instead of a patronizing position, we must find ways to provide the capacity, resources, and training to allow people to help themselves. She talked about how global spending on military and weapons is more than 20 times that for humanitarian aid or how the roles of women need to be recognized and supported.

On some level, I was a bit disappointed with the session. While Queen Noor is a very elegant and poised speaker, I found her to be somewhat … stiff. On one occasion, she got a bit animated and her eyes sparkled when she spoke about her times during the civil rights movement and other moments in her youth. But, just as quickly, she reverted back to her “public speaking” persona – somewhat reserved, controlled, and dignified. She definitely has a presence, but I’m not sure that public speaking is her forte. Nevertheless, I think the overall tone and message was inspiring. She tried to play up to the audience by saying that she has a secret desire to become a Canadian because of the leading role Canada has played in putting human development, peace, and partnership above security and greed.

OHA Board Chair’s Address
Mr. Mark Rochon gave an interesting speech. He talked about the continued importance of the OHA and its members in the Ontario health care context. At first, I thought he was suggesting that the OHA itself was important (and perhaps it is), but I think he was trying to get across the idea that hospitals are very important, even with the move toward integrated care/Local Health Integration Networks. He talked about the need for developing partnerships and for being a strategic ally in advocating for change. What was news to me was that the OHA’s #1 recommendation to have a comprehensive provincial ehealth strategy was quickly adopted by both the PCs and the Liberals during the election, becoming an important component of both platforms.

On a side note, Mark Rochon had a bit of a problem with his voice. His voiced cracked several times and he ended up drinking at least three or four cups of water during his short 15 minute address. This became somewhat of a joke during the session, with Mark laughing at himself.

Minister of Health & Long-Term Care Address – Hon. George Smitherman
The convention was ended with the traditional address by the Minister of Health. He opened with a quip about the OHA having a “queen” theme day, and that he was glad he was invited for the appropriate day ;). I won’t get into too much detail about his speech. Here are some of the highlights:

I was impressed with Mr. Smitherman’s speech. Sure it was a bit election-platform like, but he is a politician. What I found refreshing was that I got the sense that George Smitherman actually believes what he is saying - his passion came across and was felt by the audience. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next little while, but I’m definitely looking forward to the changes.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Just some final thoughts now that the convention is over. As always, I’m impressed by the overall quality of the convention. The speakers, in general, are excellent, and there’s a real feeling of collegiality and celebration. I can see how it’s an important event to attend for the networking. Now that I’ve attended a few of these, I can see some improvements made each and every year. Hopefully more will come next year.

My highlights for this year were hearing Colin Powell and Wynton Marsalis. Those two sessions definitely stick out in my mind. The ehealth session was memorable because of its popularity as there were more people than I had anticipated. Maybe it’s just me, but more people seem to be interested in ehealth than ever before. Perhaps I’m still a bit scarred from past comments I’ve received and still find it surprising to see others finally “come around”. On a grant application, one of the reviewers commented that while the topic of my project was interesting, he/she didn’t think it was *real* research. Maybe subconsciously I’m still looking to find some validation.

One final thought. I just want to thank the Ontario Hospital Association for continuing its policy of allowing students to attend for free. Without their generous support, I definitely would not have been able to attend this year. Too bad this will likely be my last (free) convention as I hope to be working by this time next year.

Popularity: 37% [?]

OHA Health Achieve 2007 - thoughts from day 2 November 7, 2007

Posted by hans in : conferences & conventions , 1 comment so far

Wow. What an exciting day. Yesterday on day 1, I heard Colin Powell speak about leadership at the opening address. Today, I stayed for the entire day and attended both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Morning Session – “Innovation and all that Jazz” by Wynton Marsalis
Originally, I wasn’t sure if I was going to attend this session, but I am sure glad that I did. Wanting to find a quiet space, I arrived early at the hall and found a seat. Much to my surprise, I saw instruments on the stage – Wynton Marsalis was going to perform! Wow.

Wynton Marsalis used his experience as a jazz musician to talk about innovation. He took the audience through the history of jazz and highlighted different types of innovators. What was amazing was that after each explanation and discussion, he and his band would give live musical demonstrations of the concepts he described. I can’t begin to detail the performances, but here’s a quick summary of Marsalis’s session.

There are several types of innovators, each with different paths and skills.

  1. the Promethean innovator - This type of innovator introduces a totally new way of doing things, seemingly original, unique, and fully formed straight from the mind. Marsalis highlighted Buddy Bolden as the originator of jazz – a person who combined the church and secular styles of music found in New Orleans. This new combination of seemingly opposite forms unleashed a new freedom.
  2. the Prodigious innovator – This type of innovator is what we would call a “prodigy” - someone who masters a discipline at very young ages, drawing both admiration and resentment at the talent. Because they are so talented, these people quickly learn the limitations of their form and look to transform their art with a deeper sense of what is possible. His examples was of Beethoven moving from the classical forms of Haydn to inspire the Romantic movement.
  3. Those who completely remake a style in their own image – These people tend to go against tradition and convention, often getting ostracized and/or persecuted because the establishment hates to be told what to do, or that it is wrong. Their innovation is in completely remaking or reinterpreting a style in their own image. Thelonius Monk is an example.
  4. Group innovators – Marsalis described how sometimes, groups of people come together either through competition or through cooperation and collaboration to create something new and amazing. He pointed to Dizzy Gillespie and his contemporaries for developing the Bebop style as something, exciting, challenging, and demanding.
  5. unique innovators/”aliens” – These types of innovators are so uniquely different, it’s as if they are from another planet or that their DNA is written completely differently. He pointed to Berlioz, Joan of Ark, and Walt Whitman as examples. They just do brilliant things and we can’t really understand them, except to appreciate them.
  6. average or “below” talent innovators – These are the rarest in any field. Through years of study, sacrifice, edurance, and persistance these people work to innovate at their craft. Marsalis commented how the “search itself reveals the innovation” and illustrated how John Coltrane was, at first, considered a below average musician.

As mentioned, after each “section”, Marsalis and his quintet (piano, sax/clarinet, drums, and double bass – my apologies, but I didn’t catch their names) played a for a few minutes. All I can say is wow. That was awesome!

Marsalis ended by explaining that jazz teaches us all that we have something to contribute and create. Jazz helps us unlock the creativity in others while working in concert together. He talked about the give and take relationship required for all of the band members to succeed, and yet have opportunities to express one’s creativity and personality.

One final note about this session – it felt like a jazz concert and I could seem heads bopping, feet tapping, and bodies moving. Marsalis is a very engaging, dynamic, and funny speaker. I never realized how accomplished he was outside of his jazz playing (read more about him at wikipedia, official website). I’d have to say that this was one of the best sessions that I have attended. Here’s a link to Wynton Marsalis’s website with a brief blurb and set-list.
Afternoon Session – Health Information Technology
Every year, I like attending the ehealth/health information technology sessions as a way of getting a pulse for some of the developments happening in Ontario. It’s also a great networking opportunity. This year’s session was a bit different in that there weren’t competing sessions as the groups decided to work together. The afternoon session actually had two speakers and a panel discussion.

SPEAKER #1: Dr. Christy Valentine – “Health records recovery: Lessons learned from New Orleans”

Dr. Valentine described her experiences as a physician in New Orleans during and after the flooding caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She described some of the challenges of rebuilding the health system there, with hospitals being closed forever and many others in danger of not surviving. One of the greatest challenges after the flooding was to reproduce medical records because they were almost all paper records.

Dr. Valentine’s main lessons/suggestions were:

  1. Have and improve emergency plans to prepare for disasters
  2. Prepare and improve emergency communication protocols
  3. Develop uniform triage standards across multiple institutions
  4. Stock basic medical supplies

She also pointed out that patients should also develop their own emergency plans for their family, maintain and keep copies of immunication records and other health documents, and have a water proof disaster kit.

I was a bit surprised to hear Dr. Valentine’s message because her information seemed a bit … dated. Maybe we here in Canada have been fortunate to not suffer through a major natural disaster, but her lessons were things that were discussed at least 5–6 years ago. What I found interesting was that in New Orleans, and in many parts of Louisiana, electronic systems were being adopted very rapidly and because all the paper records were lost, they were essentially starting from scratch without having to worry about legacy systems, inputting old data, or digitizing forms. There also seems to be considerable interest by patients because of the difficulties post-Katrina. As noted, the US is undergoing an ambitious program to have a national EHR system by the year 2015 which was announced in 2005 by President Bush during a state of the union address. I got the sense that Ontario and possibly Canada is not as far behind as people would suggest.

SPEAKER #2: Michael Decter – “Connecting the public to their health care: How consumers demand for and use of information is changing industries and what it means for health care”

Basically, Michael Decter talked about his book, Navigating Canada’s health care: The user guide to getting the care you need. He described how patients need to learn how to navigate through health services, much like how a tourist would when visiting a foreign country. Having a user guide isn’t a bad thing – it just recognizes the complexity and history of the health system in Canada.

Here are some highlights of his talk:

Overall, Decter’s presentation was interesting and informative. He touched on a number of practical issues that consumers need to address because of a lack of a true “system”. Based on his talk, I think I’m definitely going to check out his book.

PANEL DISCUSSION
After Michael Decter’s talk, there was a panel discussion about the topic of the changing role of consumers in health care. Each panel member was asked to present a short (<5 minute) presentation on his/her area of expertise. Here are the short summaries of each panel member:

  1. Alex Jadad (Chief Innovator & Founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation): His main point was that the public will not wait for the health care system. He presented data about how health care is losing mind-share to new sites on the web because of control issues. If we don’t move faster, others will come to fill the void.
  2. Kevin Leonard (Professor, University of Toronto): Kevin talked about some of his experiences as a person living with a chronic condition and highlighted the patient’s new role. Patients need to be involved in the design of systems. While accounting for a small portion of all people, the chronically ill and newly diagnosed account for almost 90% of all health traffic.
  3. Cathy Szabo (Executive Directo, Central CCAC): Cathy talked about some interesting initiatives regarding the sharing of information by hospitals and community organizations. She also shared some of her personal accounts of working in the community. Our system needs to meet the needs of elderly people who don’t want to use the Internet.
  4. Diane Beattie (VP/CIO, London Health Sciences Centre): Diane focused on how to make information more fluid across the system. She mentioned a European study that found that if you change your processes before implementing technology, you can expect cost savings of about 20–30%. If you introduce technology first, and then try to change the processes, costs tend to go up 5–10%. Her main thrust was about supporting health professionals in using information technologies.
  5. Donna Hammill-Chalk (Patient Participant, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre): Donna shared her experience as a patient newly diagnosed with cancer and how she struggled to manage her care in a system that isn’t very responsive. Based on her experience, she thinks that patients need access to their information, better continuity of care, and improved timeliness of the system – why do we need to wait days or weeks for a lab result when it can be shared in seconds?

After each panel member presented, they fielded some questions from the audience. One of the final concluding thoughts that seemed to come up over and over again was the need to collaborate rather than compete with one other and that “one size doesn’t fit all”. A while back, Holly Witteman shared her thoughts on this topic during the eHealth 2005 conference. Interesting that it would come up repeatedly.

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In all, day 2 was a very interesting day. I enjoyed the Wynton Marsalis session immensely as that was the first time I’ve ever experienced him perform live. The afternoon session on health information technology was lively and informative. I found it interesting that there was such an emphasis on the consumer/patient given that the convention is hosted and operated by the hospital community. I suppose we’ll see if this is all just talk. But, based on what I know of some of the speakers and of the leaders I’ve met in the health care system, I think they are all genuinely working to try and make the system better. Sometimes, as an individual, it’s not possible. Maybe this idea of collaboration will be the key that unlocks the solution to this problem.

Tomorrow’s closing session will highlight Queen Noor. I’m looking forward to what she might have to say. I’m also interested to hear George Smitherman, the re-elected Minister of Health and Long-term Care speak. I still can remember his first address at the OHA convention in 2003 as a newly elected and appointed Minister. He was quite stand-offish then. In the past few years, he seems to have mellowed out and become far more collaborative. Based on some of the comments I’ve heard from the crowd, people seem to be pleased with his efforts - he’s passionate, has a vision for what needs to be done, tries to partner as best as he can, and is results oriented.

Popularity: 47% [?]

OHA Health Achieve 2007 - thoughts from day 1 November 5, 2007

Posted by hans in : conferences & conventions , 2comments

Just got back from day 1 of the OHA Health Achieve 2007 convention held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto. The motto for this year is “inspiring ideas & innovations”. As with each year, the OHA organizing committee tries to keep a light and fun atmosphere at the convention grounds - this year, they decided to go with a festive New Orleans Mardi Gras theme with beaded necklaces and colours all over the place.

I thought I had written up things from last year’s convention, but apparently I never got around to it. In any case, this year’s convention started off with a bang.

Opening Session: Hillary Short – OHA President address
I’ve been very impressed with Hillary Short’s messages. She’s not the most dynamic of speakers, but she projects an inner strength. This year’s message continued her trend of focusing on people. She highlighted several examples of people in the Ontario health care system (specifically within hospitals) exemplifying innovation, kindness, compassion, leadership, and excellence. I think those are the key words for this years convention. Here are some highlights/interesting points I got from her address:

There was a short presentation to Hillary following her address. She was recognized for her leadership over the past 35 years in health care, as she will be retiring at the end of this year.

Keynote Speaker: Colin Powell on “Leadership: Taking charge”
I’ve never heard Colin Powell (OHA bio, wikipedia entry) speak until today, even though I’ve had quite a bit of respect for him ever since learned of him many years ago when he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Colin Powell is an excellent speaker. He’s quite charming and funny on stage, with no pretense about him.

It took him nearly 20 minutes to get to his main topic of leadership. Prior to that, he was sharing stories about his life after public service and some of his current interests like Revolution Health, a role in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and getting used to being a “normal guy”. One of the most entertaining stories was of how he missed having the use of a private jet and getting used to commercial flying. As the Secretary of State, he had a private jet waiting for him to use all over the world. As a civilian, he had an interesting experience when trying to fly to New York from Washington for a business meeting. On one occasion, he showed up late at the airport, paid cash for his fare, and had no luggage. He got strip-searched and “wanded” as per the policies he put in place, even though the security folks recognized him and addressed him by name – heh heh. That had the crowd roaring.

As for his main topic, he related out leadership is leadership is leadership. He related his experiences from the military to health care. Here are some highlights:

Powell talked about the need to change based on new information and for a need to move “faster than the competition” in this new information age. He shared about his career and how he faced change many times, especially with the falling of the Soviet Union. Powell briefly talked about how the world today faces several challenges:

  1. Creating economic wealth around the world and not just in a few
  2. Energy – how do we control it, use it, conserve it, and preserve it?
  3. The Environment – how do we keep our environment safe?
  4. Education of the young

He ended by reiterating the idea of keeping our societies, specifically America and Canada, “open” - that our multiculturalism, diversity, and welcoming of other people is our greatest strength as neighbors.

There was a brief question and answer period following his speech. When asked, he gave an honest response to what happened with Iraq. He was forthcoming in how at the time, everyone in the US government was convinced of the course of action to invade Iraq. When the news came out, he said he was devastated and confessed that they made a mistake. But, he said that at the time, everyone in the intelligence community (US and abroad) was in agreement that Iraq was preparing for some sort of biological attack. Apparently this information was based on unreliable sources. He talked about some of the mistakes made in Iraq, specifically about not establishing order immediately after the military victory. I can’t speak for everyone there, but his answers seemed genuine.

All in all, I was very impressed by Colin Powell. I can see how people are drawn to him. I would have liked a bit more about his thoughts on leadership, but his stories were quite entertaining.

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None of the afternoon sessions interested me, so I left for the day and did some work. I’m planning to attend tomorrow’s ehealth session with Michael Dector as the featured speaker. Wynton Marsalis, renowned jazz musician, is speaking in a session tomorrow and I think I’ll attend. Wednesday’s closing session features Queen Noor of Jordan.

Popularity: 64% [?]