Can technology assist ailing health care?

Can better management of health care data help reduce health care costs while providing improved medical service? This year's conference on Information Technology in Community Health--ITCH '98 will examine various aspects of the partnership between technology and health care at pre-conference workshops and three days of sessions Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

Dr. Paul Fisher, Director of UVic's School of Health Information Science, co-ordinates the first workshop "Computer Networking and the Internet in Community Health" on Oct. 31 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Business and Economics Building, room 180. This workshop includes an overview of many Internet applications and implications of the Internet for health care and an explanation of the different methods available to explore cyberspace for health information.

Don Juzwishin, of Juzwishin, Healthcare Consulting, and Arlene Galloway-Ford, evaluation co-ordinator, population health and clinical evaluation, Capital Health Region co-ordinate the second workshop "Using Information Management to Strengthen Regionalization" on Nov. 1 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the 1996 Classroom Building, room 112. This session will look at how organizations are using information management to support regionalization, often within an environment of funding constraints.

Ken Fyke, chair of the Canadian Blood Service and former CEO of the Capital Health Region, delivers the conference's opening address "Information Management Challenges in a Regional Health Care System: Think Globally, Act Locally" at 8:50 a.m. on Nov. 2. Denise Koo, from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, speaks at the conference's keynote session "The Emerging Role of Informatics in Public Health Surveillance and Assessment" at 9 a.m. on Nov. 3. Dr. Branco Cesnik of Australia's Monash University will discuss "Telehealth in Asia-Pacific, the Challenges for Information Technology" at the keynote session at 9 a.m. on Nov. 4. All these presentations take place at the Victoria Conference Centre.

ITCH '98 is sponsored by UVic, the School of Health Information Science, the provincial Ministry of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors, MDS Metro, Cordova Bay Consultants, the Canadian Public Health Association and COACH, Canada's Health Informatics Association. For further information about the conference or to register call 250-721-8703 or email

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