North American Medical Informatics (NAMI)

Digital Health Canada

Digital Health Canada is a member-supported not-for-profit professional association that connects, inspires, and empowers the digital health professionals creating the future of health in Canada. Our members are a diverse community of accomplished, influential professionals working to make a difference in advancing healthcare through information, technology, and data management.

Digital Health Canada fosters network growth and connection; brings together ideas from multiple segments for incubation and advocacy; supports members through professional development at the individual and organizational level; and advocates for the Canadian digital health industry.

Member Engagement in 2022

Digital Health Canada continued to innovate and deliver value to members and stakeholders in 2022. Our staff was flexible in responding to emerging member needs and interests — and expanded upon the robust set of high-quality virtual programs and services with a return to in-person events in fall 2022.

Digital Health Canada membership grew to more than 5,300 members in 2022 (from over 150 organizations across Canada).

The pandemic has elevated the awareness and need for digital tools, health data, and digital health literacy across professional groups, all healthcare settings and sectors, and the Canadian public at large. However, 2022 was a challenging time for so many members in the healthcare sector. There's been no let-up in the intensity, frequency, and scope of challenges for those working in healthcare in Canada. Our stakeholders were challenged by overcrowded hospitals, long wait times in ED, backlogs in diagnostics and surgery, and shortages of clinical staff in the wake of the pandemic and long-term systemic issues.

Now, more than ever, our mission is important to so many Canadian professionals. In 2022, we began engaging stakeholders to develop our next three-year strategic plan (2023-2026) to guide association progress and member impact as we look to deliver positive results and build on our foundation for the future.

e-Health Conference 2022 (Virtual) National Conference & Tradeshow, June 1 & 2, 2022

This interactive and engaging online conference welcomed more than 600 attendees and over 50 sponsors and exhibitors. The virtual national conference featured a pre-conference welcome session (May 30) and two conference days (June 1, 2) including keynote, plenary sessions, and over 45 total sessions delivered over the two days. There was a virtual tradeshow, ePosters, industry symposia, virtual networking lounge and sessions, community board, showcase sessions, and group chat networking throughout the event. This national event was hosted by Digital Health Canada, Canada Health Infoway, and Canadian Institute for Health Information.

By the numbers:

• 665 virtual conference attendees;

• 38 total sponsors, and 20 virtual tradeshow exhibitors

Key Statistics from Attendees Surveyed:

• 78% found the program quality “excellent or good”; 77% rated the overall event value as ”very valuable or valuable”.

e-Health Conference 2023 will return to in-person on May 28 – 30 at the Beanfield Centre, in Toronto, ON.

Regional Events

Western Region (Virtual) Conference took place on March 28 & 29, 2022:

• Day 1: Delivered in partnership with ANHIX and focus on Alberta

• Day 2: Ahead of the Curve, focus on British Columbia

Program details: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Western-Region-Conference-Program.pdf

UpOnDigital (Virtual): The Update on Ontario Digital Health, March 7, 2022:

• Theme: Ontario government updates on digital health for the year ahead

Program details: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-UpOnDigital-Conference-Program.pdf

Atlantic Region (in-person) Conference was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 4, 2022:

• More than 140 digital health professionals participated in this sold-out event (first 2022 in-person event);

• Theme was Digital Health Literacy: The Patient and Provider Experience.

Program details: https://pheedloop.com/digitalhealthatlantic/site/home/

Driving the Future of Digital Health (virtual) was held November 1, 2022:

• More than 135 professionals attended;

• Theme was The Evolution of Person-Centered Health and Wellness.

Program details: https://pheedloop.com/drivingdigitalhealth/site/home/

In addition, nine Chapter Virtual LinkUps were hosted by the Atlantic Chapter, Alberta Chapter, Saskatchewan, and BC Chapter which have seen more than 400 members register for virtual networking and discussion.

CHIEF Executive Forum

Digital Health Canada's CHIEF Executive Forum provides a place for senior professionals and leaders in digital health and healthcare to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs, and offer their expertise in setting the agenda for the effective use of information and technology to improve health and healthcare in Canada. In 2022, more than 180 members from 22 Corporate Member Organizations and 54 Executive Member Organizations participated in CHIEF Executive Forum. CHIEF events included the following:

• CHIEF Executive Forum C90 (virtual) February 24, 2022

  • ○ Topic: Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Building a Robust Cyber Defence Program;

• CHIEF Executive Forum (Virtual) Spring Symposium – April 28 & 29

  • ○ Spring Symposium details: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/chief-executive-forum/chief-events/

• CHIEF Executive Forum (In-Person) Fall Symposium – September 22, 2022 in Toronto, ON

  • ○ Fall Symposium details: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/chief-executive-forum/chief-events/

CHIEF Executive Forum – Cybersecurity Working Group

This national working group, with input from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, aimed to raise the bar on cyber security in Canadian healthcare organizations and develop a national framework and enhanced guidelines that emphasize people, process, partnerships, and technology working hand in hand. The working group develop a resource for digital health professionals called Code Grey: Where Security Practices Meet Patient Care. This resource had over 1800 views in 2022.

For further info and to download the paper: https://codegrey.digitalhealthcanada.com/

In addition, the CHIEF Executive Forum Symposium event led to work on a Pan-Canadian Digital Health strategies and priorities resource. This resource brings together digital health strategies and priorities from Canada's provinces and territories with the goal of increasing inter-provincial collaboration, aligning digital health strategies nationally, and leveraging regional efforts. Work continues in 2023 on this strateegy resource for members. See more: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/provincial-strategy-resources/

Webinars

• More than 4,500 viewers registered to join a weekly webinar session through the membership year at Digital Health Canada

  • ○ Many Digital Health Canada members participate in Webinar Wednesdays and access to a large library of past webinars in our Resource Library

  • ○ Industry Showcase webinars are special events presented by some of Canada's leading digital health and healthcare organizations. Topics include successful public-private partnerships, ground-breaking case studies, or interesting innovations. More than 375 registered to attend two industry showcase events this year.

Training & Education Highlights

• More than 100 professionals engaged with Core HI Education professional development resources;

• In 2022 there were 245 CPHIMS-CA recognized credential holders;

• New corporate organizations registered for group education packages;

• Exam Development Committee and colleagues assessed exam bank and began development of new exam form for 2023;

• Five new Digital Health Canada Faculty Members were welcomed in 2022;

• Hundreds of users have engaged with the Digital Health Canada ‘Learn’ Learning Management System launched as a one-stop-shop for digital health education, professional development, and learning community engagement.

Awards

The Women Leaders in Digital Health Awards celebrates the top ten female visionaries who are harnessing the power of IT to transform health and healthcare in Canada today.

The annual Women Leaders in Digital Health Award is unique among power lists and award programs in that it recognizes women at any stage of their career and is inclusive of all women of influence no matter where they might be in the health IT field. Each year, ten new Women Leaders in Digital Health are recognized for the work they have accomplished in the last year. The 2022 Women Leaders in Digital Health were announced during Digital Health Week in Canada (Nov 14 - 20): https://digitalhealthcanada.com/news/meet-the-2022-women-leaders-in-digital-health/

The Digital Health Canada Awards 2022 will be announced and awarded at 2023 e-Health Conference in Toronto in May . These national awards celebrated Canadian digital health leaders and innovators across six categories. For more information: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/digital-health-canada-awards/

Promoting IMIA to our Members

• Digital Health Canada is promoting the benefits of engaging with IMIA with our members;

• Updates and messages have been included in social media feed and member newsletter to highlight the work IMIA is doing.

AMIA – Informatics Professionals. Leading the Way

AMIA represents more than 5,600 healthcare professionals, students, informatics researchers, practitioners, and thought-leaders in biomedicine, healthcare, and science. AMIA's members are subject matter experts in the science and practice of informatics as it relates to clinical care, research, education, and policy. They address challenges across the continuum of the health ecosystem—consumers and patients, healthcare providers and care delivery systems, population and public health, and basic and clinical research with the ultimate goal to advance better health, better healthcare, and improved efficiency through the use of informatics and information technology.

Journals

AMIA publishes two journals. JAMIA is AMIA's premier peer-reviewed journal for biomedical and health informatics. Covering the full spectrum of activities in the field, JAMIA includes informatics articles in the areas of clinical care, clinical research, translational science, implementation science, imaging, education, consumer health, public health, and policy. JAMIA's articles describe innovative informatics research and systems that help to advance biomedical science and promote health. Case reports, perspectives, and reviews also help readers stay connected with the most important informatics developments in implementation, policy, and education. Suzanne Bakken is the Editor-in-Chief. Access to JAMIA is a member benefit and only available to current AMIA members (Regular, student, retired and lifetime), however many papers are published as open-access. JAMIA is indexed in Index Medicus, MEDLINE, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, CINAHL, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), SciSearch, Social SciSearch, Research Alert, Current Contents/Social & Behavioral Sciences, and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine.

JAMIA Open is a peer-reviewed, online-only, and Gold Open Access journal that provides a global forum for the publication of novel research and insights in the major areas of informatics for biomedicine and health (e.g., translational bioinformatics, clinical research informatics, clinical informatics, public health informatics, and consumer health informatics), as well as related areas such as data science, qualitative research, and implementation science. JAMIA Open articles, which include application notes, database notes, and patient/community perspectives, alongside original research, reflect the broad diversity of the field of the informatics community, focusing on the intersection of informatics, health, communication, and technology, and how that intersection can support patient care through research, practice, and education. JAMIA Open authors are encouraged to make data and source code accessible through publicly accessible repositories that can be cited using digital object identifiers. Accepted manuscripts are required to have a patient/community facing abstract that highlights key findings. Neil Sarkar is the Editor-in-Chief. JAMIA Open is an open access journal and does not require a login or AMIA membership to read articles.

More information on AMIA Journals is available at https://amia.org/news-publications/journals.

Health Informatics Certification

AMIA established the AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC) program to address the needs created by the growing number and expanding role of health informaticians and the concomitant increased impact of their work in healthcare delivery, public health, and consumer health. AMIA established the Health Informatics Certification Commission (HICC) to manage the program with impartiality and objectivity. The HICC is independent and autonomous with respect to certification and recertification decisions, policies, and procedures. To ensure the integrity of the AHIC certification program and its exams, there is a strict firewall between the HICC and certification staff (on one side of the firewall) and AMIA education staff, Education Committee members, course developers and instructors, and the Board of Directors (on the other side of the firewall). In 2022, the AHIC program inducted 96 inaugural diplomates who passed the qualifying exam from 33 of 50 U.S. states and five other countries. Most of these are AMIA members with a graduate degree in health informatics or related field who work at least 50% of the time in health informatics, primarily in hospital or university settings. As of November 2022, AMIA has received 213 applications for consideration in 2023. More informaiton about AHIC is available at https://amia.org/careers-certifications/amia-health-informatics-certification-ahic.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a strategic umbrella encompassing multiple concerns including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, LGBTQIA+, and ability, and initiatives and activities involving affinity groups, S.T.E.M pipeline, program development, education content, leadership development, and mentoring. All are cross-organizational issues affecting AMIA's individual and organizational membership through governance and staff work in membership, education, meetings, marketing communications, and public policy.

AMIA has charged a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee whose purpose is to guide and execute strategic goals and objectives related to diversity, equity and inclusion through recommendations to the AMIA Board of Directors. Their charge includes an environmental scan of ways that other organizaitons are addressing this issue, creating a framework for developing exposure and retention for students and professionals, and hosting engagement sessions to better inform the committee on issues and potential solutions. They provide DEI education to AMIA leadership and members, and increase awareness of the benefits of DEI towards advancing innovation and excellence in our healthcare system. The goal is to expand awareness of informatics training and careers to a wider, diverse population to create a stronger, more dynamic workforce. We expect that the lessons learned and successful experiences can inform societies in other countries as well.

There are five DEI subcommittees:

1. Recruitment: external outreach to marginalized or historically excluded groups to build awareness of AMIA and the informatics profession. In 2022 the Recruitment Subcommittee presented on “Leveraging Technology to Advance Health Equity“ at the 2022 TAPIA Conference in Washington, DC;

2. Retention and Advancement: internally focused on growing a diverse set of AMIA leaders. In 2022, the Retention and Advancement Subcommittee launched a DEI-ME Mentoring Session at the AMIA Annual Symposium, affinity group receptions, and prepared to hold listening sessions with Asian, LGBTQIA+, and Disability communities;

3. Communications: promote diverse informatics voices, research, and activities through AMIA communications channels and advocate for more inclusive research in informatics journals and meetings In 2022, the Communications Subcommittee finalized revisions to the AMIA DEI Inclusive Language and Context Style Guidelines (ILCSG) in prepation for an AMIA workshop entitled “Concepts and Practice of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Scholarly Communication for Biomedical Informatics”;

4. Education, Governance, and Policy: build DEI practices into AMIA's structure; contribute to policy responses; support DEI member education activities. In 2022, the Education, Governance and Policy Subcommittee launched the DEI Book Club featuring On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life by Sara Ahmedat the AMIA Symposium;

5. Advancement of Health Equity and Antiracism in Healthcare: position AMIA to become a thought leader in addressing these topics at the intersection with informatics; serve as an organizational convener for education, research, and policy. In 2022, the. Advancement of Health Equity and Antiracism in Healthcare Subcommittee introduced the first DEI Membership Survey to gather baseline data related to the Subcommittee work. They also held three brainstorming sessions to develop partnership collaborations and messaging.

More information on the AMIA DEI Committee is available at https://amia.org/about-amia/diversity-equity-and-inclusion.

Reducing Clinical Documentation Burden

The burden of clinical documentation on professionals, such as work done in the EHR, has had a proven negative impact on health care. This burden leads to a variety of negative outcomes including clinician burnout and decreased job satisfaction, increased medical errors and hospital-acquired conditions. In December 2021, AMIA assumed leadership responsibility for the 25x5 initiative to address this nation-wide problem by leveraging the collective expertise of key stakeholders in healthcare, industry, and policy to prioritize and implement the Calls to Action and Recommendations established by the 25x5 Symposium.

A 25x5 task Force has been established to optimize electronic health record (EHR) and related vendor solutions by prioritizing and implementing the 25x5 Symposium Calls to Action/Recommendations through partnerships and advocacy with health systems, professional societies, and public/private sector organizations in order to spread these solutions across the U.S. health system. The task force membership is structured around three workstreams: Providers/Health Systems, Health IT vendors, and Policy/Advocacy. Each workstream has developed short-term work plans with goals and milestones that are achievable this year and are currently developing robust longer-term workplans for action within five years. More information on the 25x5 task force is available at https://amia.org/about-amia/amia-25x5.

Women in AMIA

The Women in AMIA (WIA) Initiative is a movement created by and for members, committed to informing and inspiring the informatics community toward action around opportunities for women in AMIA to improve health and healthcare. WIA's goals include aiding women to reach their professional goals, helping women advance their careers and promoting equal opportunity and treatment of women in our field. In 2022, WIA sponsored a Career Development Program, a First Look program, a Leadership Program (with 21 participants) and a Town Hall (with over 40 participants). More information on WIA is available at https://amia.org/communities/women_in_amia.

Conferences

AMIA 20212 Virtual Informatics Summit, March 21-24

From discovering innovative methods to learning from exciting real-world applications, the 482 attendees at the AMIA 2022 Informatics Summit, held in Chicago, experienced the full range of cutting-edge work in translational informatics and clinical data science from inception to implementation. This conference brought togther researchers, educators, data scientists, software developers and analysts, students, and industry professionals to develop meaningful new connections and partnerships while learning practical advice to solve real-world challenges. In 2022, the Informatics Summit, chaired by Laura Wiley, expanded upon the previous Informatics Implementation track to include it as a new theme: Applied Informatics. In addition to selecting one of the three core Programmatic Tracks (Clinical Research Informatics, Data Science, Translational Bioinformatics), authors/presenters could also choose to designate their submission as part of the Applied Informatics theme to highlight the crucial application and implementation focus of their work. The opening keynote address from long-COVID researcher Hannah Wei was entitled “The Patient-Led Research Collaborative” and the closing keynote address was from University of Chicago Medicine's Olufunmilayo Olopade, who spoke on the her work on understanding of the root causes and genomic basis of cancer in diverse populations.

AMIA 2022 Clinical Informatics Conference, May 24-26

The Clinical Informatics Conference was held in Houston, , with 609 attendees. CIC featured workshops and presentations provided attendees with practical tools to bring to their home institution to continue the goal of achieving the quadruple aim. The conference was co-chaired by Paul Fu and Rosemary Kennedy. A highlight was the opening plenary session “Clinical Informatics In Focus: Fireside Chat on Burden Reduction, Burnout, and Informatics as an Intervention” with speakers Robert Bart, Chief Medical Information Officer of UPMC Health Services Division; Bonnie Clipper, Managing Director of Innovation Advantage; Mary G. Greene, Director of Office of Burden Reduction & Health Informatics at the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and Victoria Tiase, Director of Research Science at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

AMIA 2022 Annual Symposium, November 5-9

The 46th AMIA Symposium continued to build on more than 45 years of sharing research and insights for leveraging information to improve human health, back in the familiar setting of the Washington Hilton Hotel with more than 2400 attendees... The Symposium showcased the latest innovations from the community of biomedical informatics researchers and practitioners. Among many other things, the pandemic made us aware of the value of our community – a community that we have missed: colleagues, mentors, experts, and students with a shared interest in informatics. The past year demonstrated the necessity in our country for access to information to improve health and health care, and the need for professionals to use and apply that information to transform health care. Chaired by Gretchen Purcell Jackson and an outstanding team of informatics leaders, the meeting featured over 200 presentations and most importantly brought opportunities for conversation and collaboration. The opening plenary panel on “Leveraging Consumer Health Data for Health Promotion” included Kyu Rhee, Senior Vice President and Aetna and Chief Medical Officer at CVS Health and Marc R. Watkins, Chief Medical Officer at Kroger Health. The closing keynote, entitled “Informatics to Enhance Accessibility and Achieve Health Equity for People with Disabilities” was presented by Bonnielin K. Swenor, Director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center.

Digital Learning

AMIA has an extensive catalog of courses to support informatics certification examination preparation and continuing professional development. The AHIC Review Course (ARC) helps health informatics professionals prepare for the AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC) exam. The Clinical Informatics Board Review Course (CIBRC) provides physicians with preparation and resources to assist in becoming certified in the subspecialty of clinical informatics. AMIA's Health Informatics Essentials includes five distinct course covering Foundational Knowledge; Decision-making; Health Information Systems; Data Governance, Management, and Analytics; and Leadership, Professionalism, Strategy, and Transformation. Health Informatics Essentials courses includes more than 32 hours of on-demand education available through narrated video lectures contained within each course covering subject matter core to health informatics. All courses are aschronously hosted on AMIA's Education Center learning management system. AMIA digital courses support learners from Health System Members, Corporate Members, and individual members/non-members seeking to strengthen their knowledge of the informatics profession.

Digital Health Canada

1100 – 151 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M5C 2W7 Canada

E-mail: [e-mail]

Website: www.digitalhealthcanada.com

Twitter: @DigiHealthCA

LinkedIn: digital-health-ca

AMIA

6218 Georgia Avenue NW, Suite #1 | PMB 3007

Washington, D.C. 20011, United States

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

Website:

www.amia.org www.whyinformatics.org

Twitter: @AMIAinformatics

LinkedIn: Official Group of AMIA

Facebook: American Medical Informatics Association

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
26 December 2023