Kevin J. Leonard, MBA, PhD, CMA
Associate Professor
Dept. of HPME, Faculty of Medicine
Education and Employment Background
As a brief introduction, I received my Ph.D. from the Joint Doctoral Program in Montreal where I specialized in Statistics and Information Systems Theory for Business. My dissertation explored the application of advanced statistical models to credit decisions for small business loans. These models proved to be quite effective and showed increased performance over more conventional statistical methods. After five years as a Full-time Lecturer while completing my doctorate, I moved to the Bank of Canada, Canada's central bank in Ottawa, where I studied the effect of Credit on fiscal and monetary policy. Subsequently, I worked for the Fair, Isaac Companies in San Rafael, California, the world leader in the development of risk management tools.
In July 1990, I joined Wilfrid Laurier University as an Assistant Professor teaching courses in Business Statistics, Management Information Systems and Operations Research in both the undergraduate and MBA programs. Further, as Director of the REMAT (REsearch into the Management of Advanced Technology) Center, I was in the unique position of working with faculty, research assistants and the external constituents (industry, government and the community). The mandate of the Center was to facilitate the constituents= adoption and utilization of state-of-the-art technology and information systems.
While at Laurier, I became the Founding President of the CCRMA - Canadian Credit Risk Management Association - the first organization of its kind where credit risk management professionals work together to address industry issues. Within this association, I assisted financial institutions in negotiating contracts with scorecard vendors; developed a fraud model for VISA authorizations using an Expert System Rule-base; developed and piloted a comprehensive training package for front line lending personnel; and designed management reports for application scoring, credit bureau score implementation and account management. I have also been involved with the development of multi-media database management systems for different professional sports teams B specifically, the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. Finally, in the Spring of 1994, I began an 18 month research project into the information needs and business processes of the Grand River Hospital Corporation.
In July 1996, I joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Since this time, I have continued my research into the application of Information Technology (IT) to healthcare in the following areas: the design and development of patient healthcare information systems, cost/benefit analysis for IT investment, and assessing industry needs around information, technology and confidentiality. Further, I have taken up the challenge of assisting the faculty members in my department in the movement toward the implementation of IT into course curriculum by adopting distance education technology.
In addition, I am currently a research investigator for a Community Health Information Network in Waterloo. This project is in its fifth year; my involvement has focussed on user information needs and connectivity issues. Further, I am the Chair of the Research Advisory Sub-committee of the Ontario Community and Long Term Care Research and Evaluation Network which studies research topics relating to the transfer of research findings into practice in the Long Term and Home Care sectors. Finally, I am involved in an innovative off-campus initiative funded by the Ministry of Health. This CCACIMS initiative, where I am a member of the Council, is developing a common information platform for all 43 CCACs throughout the province.
Impact of Research
To date, all of my research has focused on one concept - better information in the right and most accessible format will improve decision making. As can be seen from my Curriculum Vitae, I have applied this theory to banking and credit, sports, student-teacher interaction and, over the last six years, health care. At first glance, my research direction may seem very disjointed, however, this strategy has actually allowed for synergies that may not have been realized if industries did not have cross-over with either research personnel or practitioners. In my two areas of interest (statistics and information theory), this multi-industry focus is quite common. John Tukey, one of the most influential statisticians of the last fifty years once said: "the best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard".
Research Programme for Next Five Years
Problem Definition: A communication gap exists between healthcare information systems users and the technology developers
While technology consultants are fluent in technology trends, most are not aware of the types of information that healthcare managers would like to have to support, or sometimes to even drive, their decision making. In addition, health stakeholders - clinicians, patients, administrators, executives and directors - are not aware of all of the possibilities that technology can offer - either historically or in the immediate and/or near future. Hence, the dialogue between the two parties is often strained. Neither side, normally, is aware of the specific constraints and opportunities that exist on the other side.
In essence, many factors have affected organizations and their ability to make the best use of their information systems assets. These factors are so complex that they cannot be resolved straightforwardly. However, they can be solved, in part, by nurturing a new generation of graduate students, healthcare clinicians and managers who are fluent in their health discipline, in healthcare information management issues and in information technology capabilities and trends. In addition, they can be addressed by facilitating the entire IT development life cycle from needs analysis through implementation.
It is my belief that the best way for my research to positively impact the healthcare system is to create a Curriculum Health Informatics graduate studies program. This program would incorporate both PhD and MSc studies that will provide a catalyst and focal point for education and collaborative research in Health Informatics in an attempt to address the above noted technology problems. One of the key elements in this programme will be a Seminar series whereby leading researchers and experts in the field of health informatics will present leading edge ideas to our academic community. At present, both Dave Davis, (Director of Continuing Education, Faculty of Medicine) and Alex Jadad (Director of e-heath Innovation, UHN) have expressed an interest in combining this Series with their programs and constituents.
Specifically, it is my vision that this programme would have four principal operating objectives:
- to promote health informatics development through an academic curriculum;
- to create an integrated research community in this field;
- to support health care organizations in adopting and evaluating information technology through research, student work and consulting;
- to conduct collaborative research with Partners which include:
- Information Technology companies
- Research organizations
- Private companies focusing on IT consulting and service.
The Benefits
The vision is that within two to three years we will develop an internationally significant programme of study for health informatics. This will provide the ability to educate individuals with the skills necessary to carry on analysis of the healthcare delivery system across the country. In addition, I believe there is significant potential for partnership with industry and significant potential to research and develop innovative solutions for export to other parts of the world.
In short, I believe that all of my research history and employment experience has eventually led me to this point in time. Due to the lack of IT sophistication historically in the administration of health care, the needed experience to provide IT leadership has not been readily forthcoming within healthcare. As such, expertise must be obtained from outside the industry. It is my hope that my experience in banking and other applications will provide me with the qualifications to bring viable IT solutions to healthcare in the very near term.
Research Initiatives
Over the last couple of years, the reception for collaborative research into both theory and practice has led to a number of research developments. These include:
- Research surrounding the development, implementation and measurement of an Information Management System for 43 province-wide CCACs.
- Working on the creation of an Healthcare Informatics Center for both Research and Education at Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation
- Research relating to the evaluation of the benefits from Information Technology - incorporating the TAHSC hospitals, Toronto CCAC and the Waterloo Region CHIN.
- Conference Research Director for One Day Symposium for Ontario Community Services Research and Evaluation Network (OCSREN) - Toronto Airport Hilton, February 16, 2000.
- Research surrounding the needs for Information Technology of Ontario's hospitals (with the OHA).
- The creation of a multidimensional database for the Mount Sinai Toronto CCAC Hospice Palliative Care Network (HPCNet) project.
- The Development of an Electronic Patient Record in CD format for University Health Network.
- The Development of a Centralized Patient Data Registry for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- The Development of an efficient data-capture system for Pre-ER encounters (with Metro Toronto Ambulance and Sunnybrook Hospital)
- The development of performance measures and standards for Community (Toronto CCAC) -Hospital (UHN, St Michael's and Mount Sinai) information transfer.
- HISE - Healthcare Interactive Simulation Exercise; modified to research Patient Information Needs.
- Researching the needs for Patient Advocacy and patient information systems.
- The Effect of Funding Policy on Day of the Week Admissions and Separations in Hospitals: The cases of Austria and Canada.
For further information including recent publications and presentations, please click here.
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