Organization:Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation

Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation

Established	2009
Location	London, Ontario, Canada
Key people	David Barrett
Affiliations	Ivey Business School
Website	www.ivey.ca/healthinnovation

The Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation is located within the Ivey Business School at Western University. The Centre acts as a catalyst for health system transformation and the adoption of a value-based health care management system in Canada. It aims to prepare health leaders with the skills they need to identify, assess and facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies, systems and processes that health systems need in order to be sustainable.

It was officially established in 2009 when the federal government, through Industry Canada, invested $5 million in the creation of the Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership (the Centre), as part of the government's strategy to advance and promote science and technology in Canada. Since its inception, the Centre has been an objective 3rd party academic centre, working to take proven health sector innovations and implement them into the system using evidence-based methods.

History

In 2009, the federal government, through Industry Canada, invested $5 million in the creation of the Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership (the Centre), as part of the government's strategy to advance and promote science and technology in Canada. Originally, the Centre was given the mandate to, "develop a highly skilled workforce that fosters next-generation health technologies/innovations that would create new jobs and business opportunities and grow the economy" (Hon. T. Clement, March 23, 2009). Additionally, the Centre was also tasked with becoming, "a global leader in identifying, assessing and commercializing innovative technologies, systems and processes for Canada’s health care system and providers that would lead to meaningful progress in patient care…[and] would abide by the mission of the Richard Ivey School of Business, which sets out to develop Canadian business leaders who ‘think globally, act strategically and contribute to the societies within which they operate’.

Leveraging Innovation and Leadership

The Centre's founding Academic Chair was Hon. Dr. Kellie Leitch, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, who now serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Simcoe-Grey region in Ontario. During her tenure as Academic Chair, Dr. Leitch advanced the Centre's creation of thought leadership through publishing several white papers, including: "Innovation Takes leadership" (2010), "Leveraging Information Technologies to Transform and Sustain British Columbia’s Health Care Sector" (2010), and "Transforming Canadian Health Care through Consumer Engagement: The Key to Quality and System Innovation" (2011). Research projects focused on adoption strategies for innovations in health systems.

Value Based Health Care and Health System Design

Following Hon. Dr. Leitch's successful election as an MP in 2011, Dr. Anne Snowdon was appointed the Centre's Academic Chair. Throughout Dr. Snowdon's tenure at the Centre (2011-2015), she continued building the Centre's reputation as a thought leader through publishing the following white papers: "Transforming Canada into a Global Centre for Medical Device Innovation and Adoption" (2011), "Strengthening Health Systems Through Innovation: Lessons Learned" (2011), "Measuring What Matters: The Cost vs. Values of Health Care" (2012), and "’It’s All About Me’: The Personalization of Health Systems" (2014). At the same time, the Centre's research projects took a shift towards health system design, pathway development, and global health care best practices, while still facilitating the adoption of health system innovations in Canada.

The Future of Health Innovation Today

In 2015, Dr. David Barrett was appointed the Centre's Executive Director. Since the inception of the Centre in 2009, new markets and opportunities have emerged that were unimaginable 7 years ago. The Centre is optimistic about the future of innovation and health system improvements and is looking forward to contributing positively to that future.

Executive Director

Dr. David Barrett, PhD, MBA, CPA, CMA is the current Executive Director of the Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation, and is currently appointed as an assistant professor of operations management at the Ivey Business School. He also serves as Chair of the Bone and Joint Institute, Research and Business Advisory Committee.

Advisory Council

The Centre's Advisory Council is made up of professionals working in the health care field. Spanning pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, health care consulting and hands-on patient care, the Council has experience with both the private and public sectors, presenting opportunities for student mentorship, networking and learning. The Chair of the Council is Lisa Purdy, Partner, National Health Consulting Leader at Deloitte.

Research

Strategic Priorities

The Centre embraces the following strategic priorities as fundamental to advancing research within health systems.

• Health System Operations and Design
• Health Care Economics and Big Data Analytics
• Chronic Disease Management and Design
• Leadership Development and Education

In order to address each of the Centre's strategic priorities, the Centre engages in research, education and outreach activities. It leverages an innovation model that engages key health system stakeholders (i.e. academia, health service providers, industry and government) to spur innovation and foster a collaborative process with the goal of achieving value for all levels of health care management. The Centre's Annual Reports highlight the many research, education and teaching initiatives of faculty, staff, students and collaborators at the Ivey Business School and Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation.

Select Publications and Reports

• Sibbald, S., Wathen, N., & Kothari, A. (2016). An empirically based model for knowledge management in health care organizations. Health Care Management Review, 41(1): 64-74.
• Enns, E. A, Cipriano, L.E., Simons, C. T., & Kong, C. Y. (2015) Identifying best-fitting inputs from calibration of health economic models: introducing the Pareto frontier approach. Medical Decision Making, 25(2): 170-182.

A complete list of publications and reports can be accessed at the Centre's website.

Select Projects

• Procurement by Co-Design
• Operating Room Supply Chain Standards in Healthcare
• Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Procurement
• Patient-Centered Health System Design

A complete list of projects can be accessed at the Centre's website.

White Papers

The Centre supports thought leadership by partnering to produce point of view papers aimed at spurring the discussion around health innovation and adoption. The Centre's research is focused on five areas of innovation inquiry: medical devices, information technology, health systems, health finance, and pharmaceuticals/biotechnology. The released white papers to date can be accessed at the Centre's website.

Cases

The Centre produces teaching cases that focus on health sector organizations, with particular emphasis on instances of innovation, commercialization and adoption. The case method provides the student with an opportunity to stand in the shoes of the decision-maker, analyzing the business issue presented, making judgments and determining a course of action. Ivey is the only school in Canada that adheres to the case study method. A complete list of cases can be accessed at the Centre's website.

Education

The Centre is dedicated to training current and future leaders to be agents of change in the health care system. The Centre's education platform maximizes the opportunity to gain practical experience by addressing business problems in the health sector through its:

Leadership Development Program

The Centre is committed to building leadership capacity to improve health care delivery at a system level. Building off Ivey's well respected and highly ranked Executive Development Program, the Centre offers customized development programs for emerging and established leaders in the health sector.

Its education programs utilize a collaborative and trans-disciplinary model, exposing leaders to multiple disciplines (e.g., business, medicine, health sciences, engineering, computer science) and stakeholders. The Centre's education programs are taught using Ivey's case study method, where students work with real-world business challenges and take on the role of decision maker.

Past Participants:

• Joint Motion Program (JuMP) participants at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Continuing Education Program for the Chiefs/Chairs of various medical specialties at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London

The Centre's Executive Development programs are taught by full-time faculty members who also teach in the Executive MBA, MBA and undergraduate business degree programs. Known for their research, case writing and teaching awards, faculty are consistently ranked among the best in the world by participants.

Trending Health Care Speaker Series

Twice a semester the Centre hosts established thought leaders to share their insights, experiences and optimism to Western and Ivey students about the future of health care to inspire our future leaders.

Health Innovation Blog Awards

The Centre is committed to supporting thought leadership in the health sector industry. Ivey and Western graduate and undergraduate students are welcome to submit posts for publication on the Centre's Health Innovation Blog, a platform for staff, students and community members to discuss innovative ideas to address health system challenges and gaps. At the end of each academic year the Centre's Advisory Council Research Development Committee chooses the top blog submission based on merit and the authors are awarded $250-$500.

Student Internship Opportunities

The Centre is committed to addressing health care's "innovation adoption deficit" and the lack of highly trained leaders and change agents who understand that innovation improves productivity and who have the specialized skills necessary to drive and sustain change in both the private sector and in Canada's publicly funded health care institutions. As a result, the Centre hires Student Research Analysts with a passion for learning, and the professional ability to produce significant results to support team members at the Centre. These positions have an educational component consisting of Lunch and Learns with current leaders in the health care sector. The positions are a fantastic opportunity for highly motivated students with a keen interest in the dynamic health care industry.

External links

• Ivey International Centre for Health Innovation
• Ivey School of Business