THETA KT Day

THETA KT Day is a day to share research knowledge developed by the Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment Collaborative with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, with policy makers, funders, healthcare service planners and providers, researchers, and consumers.

Our fourth annual "Knowledge Translation to Policy" Day, was held at Casa Loma, Toronto, on Wednesday, May 29th, 2013. This year’s topic will focus on early health technology assessment (i.e. “Early HTA”). This new HTA research model is emerging, in which scientists, payers, and innovators work together early in the technology development process. This ensures that the clinical evidence will meet the needs of payers (e.g. Ministries of Health) and regulators (e.g. Health Canada) when it is brought to market, and is consonant with the needs of users. It was an interesting and interactive day. Please see the attached agenda with a list of international speakers and their topics, as well as their presentations below.

Murray Krahn MD MSc FRCPC, Director, THETA Collaborative

Les Levin MB MD FRCP FRCPC, Chief Scientific Officer, MaRS Excellence in Clinical Innovation and Technology Evaluation (EXCITE); VP, Evidence Development & Standards, Health Quality Ontario

Mohammed Ansari MD MMedSc MPhil, Senior Systematic Review Methodologist, Knowledge Synthesis Group, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Jim Bowen BScPhm MSc, Manager, Field Evaluation and Economic Assessment Program, Programs for Assessment of Technology in Health (PATH) Research Institute

Valeria Rac MD PhD, Director of Clinical Research, THETA Collaborative

Patricia Trbovich PhD, Academic Research Lead, Centre for Global eHealth Innovation

Maarten Ijzerman PhD, Professor of Health Technology & Services Research, University of Twente

Ba’ Pham PhD(c), Decision Modeler, THETA Collaborative

Daria O’Reilly PhD, Director, Field Evaluation & Economic Assessment Program, Programs for Assessment of Technology in Health (PATH) Research Institute

Julie Barnett PhD, Professor in Health Research, Brunel University

Pascale Lehoux PhD, Professor, Department of Health Administration; Researcher, Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé (GRIS), University of Montreal

Fiona Miller PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

THETA 6th Annual Symposium

The THETA Collaborative held its 6th Annual Symposium on May 30, 2013, also at Casa Loma, Toronto. The symposium was attended by over 100 professionals who represented a broad range of organisations, including: universities; research institutes; provincial organisations; hospitals; various academic departments; THETA staff; students; and government. This year’s theme was “End-of-Life Care”, lead by Dr. Robert Fowler, Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute. In the afternoon, we had indulged in our traditional HTA research “Amuse-bouches” involving various THETA investigators. Please see Symposium agenda for details; and below some presentations from the meeting.

Murray Krahn, Director, THETA Collaborative, "Introduction & Setting the Stage for Collaborative Evolution of our System."

Konrad Fassbender, Assistant Professor, Palliative Care Medicine, University of Alberta, "Cost of Dying in Canada."

Chris Longo, Associate Professor & Director, Health Services Management Program, McMaster University, "Indirect and Out of Pocket Costs at End of Life."

Murray Krahn, Director, THETA Collaborative, "Cancer Care Spending at End of Life."

Rob Fowler, Scientist and Medical Staff, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, "Resource Use and Spending at End of Life in Canada and the US."

John You, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University; Attending Staff, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, "Advance Care Planning in Canada."

Scott Halpern, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, "US Experience in EOL."

Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital; Provincial Lead, Ontario’s Seniors Strategy, "Canadian Model(s) of End-of-Life, Elder and Palliative Care Delivery."

Ilora Gillian Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Past President of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK; Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University School of Medicine; Consultant, Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, Wales, "Lessons from the Birthplace of Palliative Care."

Jeff Myers, Head, Palliative Care Consult Team, Sunnybrook Health Sciences; Head of the Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto, “'Quality Dying Initiative' at U of T Hospitals."

Damon Scales, Scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Trauma, Emergency & Critical Care Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, "How Do We Know When to Stop?"

Valeria Rac, Director of Clinical Research, THETA Collaborative, "Gender Differences in End-of-Life Care"

Mike Paulden, Health Economist, THETA Collaborative, "Does NICE Discriminate Against the Elderly?"

Harry Underwood, Polley Faith LLP, "The Law at the End of Life: Who Decides?"

Lisa Priest, Manager, Community Engagement and Patient Navigation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, "How to Engage the Media and the World."