2015 Marion Woodward Lecture

The Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward Foundation has generously supported the annual Marion Woodward Lecture since 1969. This lectureship marked the first time that Marion Woodward allowed her name to be used in conjunction with any of the beneficiaries of the Foundation.

Abstract:  The Canadian landscape of health information technology is at an all-time high with various types of smart devices, electronic health records, and decision support systems available to both the health community and patients. Such technologies help to improve the productivity of clinicians and the safety of the patients by increasing the efficiency of certain tasks and reducing the risk of error. With nurses representing the largest workforce within the health care delivery system, there are many technologies designed with their expertise in mind to help streamline health care delivery. Two such technologies are web-based case management systems, which allow nurses to virtually manage the on-going health of patients, and home care technologies, such as watch sensors, monitoring tools, and telemedicine, which all allow direct access to nurses. These clinical informatics tools are particularly beneficial for patients transitioning in care and for seniors who may have questions concerning their chronic conditions or medications and may not be mobile to visit their primary care physician or community pharmacist. Furthermore, these technologies allow nurses to manage many more patients than would be feasible in person and deliver care to their full expertise and potential. 

Bio:  Dr. Robyn Tamblyn is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University. She is a James McGill Chair, a Medical Scientist at the McGill University Health Center Research Institute, and the Scientific Director of the Clinical and Health Informatics Research Group at McGill University. Dr Tamblyn's ground-breaking research on educational outcomes has elucidated important relationships between health professional training, licensure and practice that have subsequently guided credentialing policies. Her work on prescription drug use, its determinants, and computerized interventions to improve drug safety (MOXXI) have been recognized internationally. She leads a CIHR-funded team to investigate the use of e-health technologies to support integrated care for chronic disease, and co-leads a Canadian Foundation for Innovation Informatics Laboratory to create advanced technologies to monitor adverse events in populations and create new tools to improve the safety and effectiveness of health care. Her work is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the British Medical Journal, Medical Care, and Health Services Research among others. She has been awarded the CHSRF KT award for her research in improving the use of medication as well as the ACFAS Bombardier award for innovation in the development of a computerized drug management system. As of January, 2011, she became the Scientific Director of the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.