The annual gala celebrating the Canadian Health Informatics Awards (the ‘CHIA Awards’) took place last night in Toronto. More than 400 Canadian health and technology professionals gathered Tuesday, May 27 at the Beanfield Centre for the CHIA Awards Gala honouring the digital health leaders and visionaries who are reimagining healthcare delivery in Canada.

The CHIA Awards Gala is a highlight of the annual e-Health Conference and Tradeshow program; e-Health is Canada’s only national digital health event, taking place May 26-29, 2019 at Toronto’s Beanfield Centre. The CHIA Awards are sponsored by Digital Health Canada and ITAC Health.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

The Canadian Health Informatics Awards (CHIA) pay tribute to excellence, leadership, and innovation in health informatics and digital health. An impartial adjudication committee of health leaders evaluate CHIA nominations and choose the recipient(s) for all awards. In the event that all submissions in a particular category are deemed to not have met the criteria, the adjudication committee may choose not to give out the award. Thank you to the 2019 adjudication committee members Carina Andreatta (St. Joseph’s Healthcare); John Lee Bartlett (Allscripts); Catherine Hunter (PWC); Margarita Loyola (VIHA); Sanaz Riahi (Ontario Shores); Mary Slade (NLCHI); Isabelle Vezina (Hacking Health); and Jeff McKay (Brightsquid).

The following are 2019 CHIA Award winners:

Individual Award Winners

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  The Steven Huesing Scholarship was established in 1999 to recognize the contributions of the late Steven Huesing, founding president of COACH (now Digital Health Canada). The scholarship reflects the spirit, dedication, and innovation that the founding president brought to the field of health informatics. Scholarship applications are accepted from students currently enrolled in a health informatics, digital health/virtual health or related program at an accredited post-secondary institution. Sponsored by Digital Health Canada. The 2019 Stephen Huesing Scholarship Winner is Lydia Sequeira.

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  The Dr. Kathryn J. Hannah Nursing Informatics Scholarship is awarded to a Canadian nurse who is pursuing graduate education to advance leadership and innovation in nursing informatics. Sponsored by the Canadian Nurses Foundation. The 2019 Dr. Kathryn J Hannah Nursing Informatics Scholarship Winner is Chantelle Recsky.

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  Emerging Leader in Health Award recognizes individuals who are in the first five years of a digital health career and have demonstrated leadership and achieved early success. Sponsored by Digital Health Canada. The 2019 Emerging Leader in Digital Health Award Winner is Gillian Strudwick.

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  Clinical Innovator Award recognizes an individual who has shown outstanding leadership in Canada in advancing the use of digital health or virtual health in clinical practice resulting in improved provider and patient experiences and outcomes. Sponsored by Digital Health Canada. The 2019 Clinical Innovator Award Winner is Kevin Samson.

• Leadership in Digital Health Award recognizes an individual’s outstanding contributions as a thought leader to advance digital health or virtual health in Canada. Sponsored by Digital Health Canada. The 2019 Leadership in Digital Health Award Winner is Karen Hay.

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  Digital Health Executive of the Year Award recognizes an executive whose outstanding contributions as a leader have helped advance digital health in Canada. Sponsored by Digital Health Canada. The 2019 Digital Health Executive of the Year Award Winner is Mohamed Alarakhia

Team Award Winners

• Project Implementation Team Award honours private and public sector team effort by recognizing a for-profit healthcare IT company and client team that has successfully implemented a health IT solution at a healthcare organization within the past 12 months. Sponsored by ITAC Health. The 2019 Project Implementation Team Award Winner is ‘OntarioMD EMR’ (OntarioMD, OscarEMR, and Telus Health)
• Innovation and Care Delivery Team Award honours private and public sector team effort by recognizing a for-profit healthcare IT company and client team that has successfully implemented a new, innovative health IT solution within the past 12 months. Sponsored by ITAC Health. The 2019 Innovation and Care Delivery Team Award Winner is ‘Long-Term Care eConnect’ Team (Ontario Long Term Care Association; Canada Health Infoway; AdvantAge Ontario; Ontario Long Term Care Clinicians; eHealth Ontario; PointClickCare; ThoughtWire; Sienna Senior Living.
• Patient Care Innovation Team Award honours private and public sector team effort by recognizing a for-profit healthcare IT company and client team that has successfully implemented a health -IT solution that has positively impacted patient care in innovative ways within the past 12 months. Sponsored by ITAC Health. The 2019 Patient Care Innovation Team Award Winner is ‘Virtual Visits – Meeting Patient Needs Through Innovation’ Team (eHealth Centre of Excellence; OTN, thinkresearch)
• Corporate Citizenship Award (Canadian Enterprise) recognizes leading for-profit healthcare IT companies that are committed to and passionate about health informatics and have invested in contributing to the industry in Canada. This annual award provides client organizations and business partners the opportunity to nominate private sector companies who have demonstrated a very high level of commitment to HI in the past 12 months. Sponsored by ITAC Health. The 2019 Corporate Citizenship Award – Canadian Enterprise Winner is Tectonic.