To apply to the Master of Science in eHealth program, please complete your application using the step by step process online by clicking here.
Admission Requirements at a Glance

* A Bachelor’s Degree with an average in the final year of at least B+ (equivalent to a McMaster GPA of 8.5) in one of the relevant fields (computing and software, business, or health sciences). Other disciplines will also be considered.
* A substantial computing applications background is normally required to enter the MSc eHealth program.
* Applicants whose native language is not English will be required to furnish evidence of their proficiency in the use of the English language. A minimum TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) (iBT) score of 92 (or 580 on the paper-based TOEFL test or 237 on the computer-based TOEFL test) is required. An alternative is the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB), with a minimum of 90. Other evidence of proficiency in English will also be considered, for example, university education completed in English. Students who have been educated in English at the post secondary level are not required to produce the above documents.
* International students should be aware that tuition fees are substantially higher than for Canadian students and funding opportunities are limited.

Please send all documentation including a CV, personal statement of interest, official transcripts, 2 reference letters/forms and all other required information directly to:

McMaster University
DeGroote School of Business
MSc eHealth Program Coordinator
1280 Main Street West, Room DSB A203
Hamilton ON L8S 4M4
Admission Details

Students entering the eHealth program may be admitted from a variety of suitable undergraduate degrees. They will belong to a community with backgrounds in related fields and common interests in information technology to support health services delivery and research. The requirements include background in computing and a strong interest in the use of computing support in healthcare applications. We are seeking students who have taken the following courses:

* a mathematics course at the university level
* a statistics course at the university level
* a computer science course in programming (any language such as C++ or Java)
* a computer science course in database design or data structures and algorithms

The computer science courses can be taken at a Community College level although we encourage university level courses

A background from the health sciences, life sciences, business, or computer science is an asset, but not a requirement. Here are some suggestions to address gaps potential students might have.

The Admissions Committee will in each case judge the candidate’s suitability for the program. A minimum B+ average in the final year of a four-year undergraduate degree program is required for admission. Applicants for the full-time options must also pass a face-to-face interview that evaluates their suitability for an 8 month internship, a required component of the program.
Fees and Expenses
Application
$90.00 (one-time non refundable fee)
Tuition

Current fee schedule (2009)

Internship Fees
Full time students only

Internship details

$2500

Methods of Payment

All payments are made directly to the Student Accounts & Cashiers in the Registrar’s Office.
Financial Support – Full time Students

Thesis option students are offered a $3000 graduate scholarship, a $5000 external research scholarship, and a half TA (Teaching Assistantship) valued at approximately $5122 each year. Thesis students are required to work 10 – 15 hours per week with their supervisors doing research projects and/or working as a TA. This work is beyond any course related responsibilities. Thesis students are encouraged to apply for external funding. If a student is successful in winning a major award, the amount will deducted from the above financial support. Limited opportunities are available in the thesis option. Applicants interested in pursing an academic or pure research career are the most appropriate students for the thesis option.

Project-course option students are offered a $3000 graduate scholarship each year. In addition, all full time students on internship assignment are paid by their employers during the 8 month period. The amount is not guaranteed and is subject to negotiation with employers, but the amount should be approximately $2800 per month.

Source

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When healthcare organization start storing the information electronically, which we mean in the database, then variety of data insights can be possible and hence positive impact on whole organization. As mentioned in the begining, we would like to share a document on the EMR.

Read the Document

Ontario’s doctors are committed to be at the forefront of building a stronger, higher quality health care system for our patients. A large part of this commitment is working with our partners in health care — government, other health organizations, and the public — to recognize opportunities to improve patient care, and to pursue innovation that will contribute to the overall health and well being of the people of Ontario. We believe that information technology, and more specifically electronic medical records (EMRs) used by physicians in their offices at the point of care delivery to patients, offer the potential to greatly improve the quality of patient care in Ontario, and to make the health care system safer and more efficient.

Electronic health records have been in the news over the past few months but not for the right reasons and it should not detract from the benefits of information technology in health care, and the need to establish a comprehensive electronic health network. It is crucial that we remain vigilant in getting every patient an electronic medical record. Here’s why.

Ontario’s physicians know first-hand the benefits that EMRs offer their patients. By 2010, more than 3,000 family physicians will be using EMRs in their practices and more than 4 million patients will be covered by an electronic medical record.

Physicians are using EMRs to prevent adverse drug reactions when writing and renewing prescriptions, manage lab results, and help develop preventive care strategies by doctors with our patients. EMRs allow doctors to readily access their patient’s history, know what tests have been done and when to schedule periodic checks and tests. Physicians also use EMRs to help their patients manage chronic disease, such as diabetes and depression.

When physicians have access to EMRs, patients can be confident that their information will be available when their physician or someone on his or her team needs it. The Ontario Health Quality Council 2009 Yearly Report highlighted the importance of EMRs in ensuring continuity of care to patients and found EMRs to be a critical component in the evolution of the province’s health care system.

In addition, the recent Auditor General’s report notes that EMRs could save the Canadian healthcare system $6 billion per year. OntarioMD manages the Ontario Physician IT Program for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Medical Association.

Through government investment, OntarioMD has funded and continues to support the transition from paper-based medical records to electronic medical records for physicians. The response from physicians has been overwhelming. In fact, OntarioMD has received about 2,000 additional requests from physicians to implement an EMR in their practice.

We are pleased the Ontario government has made a strategic investment into a program that has exceeded expectations. This is a good start and we are confident more will be done and Ontario’s doctors will continue to be strong advocates for the expansion of EMRs into every physician’s office across the province. This is a grand task and one that requires a long-term commitment. The expectations are both promising and exciting, and it is imperative that the government and physicians get on with the job of getting every patient in Ontario an Electronic Medical Record.

– Suzanne Strasberg, MD President Ontario Medical Association

A private telecommunications company is making a big jump into the business of electronic health records. Telus is launching the first national program that would allow doctors and patients to share medical records in a web-based world. The Telus Health Space Project is supported by the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Telus says the secure system allows patients to post their own medical history, as well as simple test results, such as those recorded from blood pressure tests that can be done at home. Doctors can then access the information from their offices.

Privacy concerns

Although the Canadian Diabetes Association supports the project, it says privacy remains a top concern for patients. If people aren’t convinced their information won’t find its way into unwanted hands, patients might shy away.

“They have to guarantee your privacy of your health records or people just won’t use it,” said Jacquelyn Wright, a spokesperson for the diabetes association.

Two-way exchange

A lead researcher on electronic health records, who works at the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, says electronic records work best when doctors and patients are both involved in gathering and recording information.

“It works better if the doctors are involved, if it is a two-exchange of information between doctor and patient – that is what will make this a success,” said Dr. Khaled El Eman.

Although other systems of electronic health records have been used at hospitals across Canada and the United States, El Eman says the Telus project is the first national plan for Canada.

Patient involvement

He says the program can be especially useful for those with chronic medical conditions, noting that those patients are usually more motivated to become involved.

Wright agrees that patient involvement is important: “Putting them in the middle of it and being part of the process, that is what is going to give them a real sense of control,” she said.

Telus’ system won’t be up and running until later this year.

In two weeks, CHEO will move forward with a hospital-wide electronic health records system to track patients. The hospital has declined to discuss the project until it is up and running.

With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Paul Brent

For more info

Source: Workopolis – Keywords data analyst.

Essentially it has explains the use of Microsoft business intelligence tools and their impact on achieving productivity at CHOP – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The hospital’s department of Pathology and laboratory medicine collects and analyzes the patient samples in specialized laboratories, needed to improve its data analysis and operational management process.

Since 1999 to until early 2008 the number specimen collected and analyzed has doubled and the hospital has an outdated and inefficient system in place according to Dr. Bryan Wolf, Pathologist-in-Chief, Chair, and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at CHOP. Following issues are noted as follows;

Problem Areas

1- For example, technologists and pathologists used a laboratory-processing computer system from Meditech, which the department had installed in the late 1980s and have the following deficiencies.
2- Although, the old system was good at collecting the data but limited in turning the data in actionable information to make the organization efficient.
3- The old system was not able to facilitate data analysis to improving the productivity of the organization.
4- It was difficult to extract the useful data.
5- There was a Manual specimen collection process because many specialized laboratory have been consolidated but not all employees use the same process which resulted in slow method of specimen reporting information.
6- In addition to the above there was no way of checking employee performance and accountability.

Critical Success factor

In view of the above it was observed that old system was inefficient because of variations in specimen handling in every step resulting in significant avoidable delay. This deficiency was rooted out from the system by using business process management and business intelligence tools.

Solution

After consulting with various vendors the hospital used the services of USC consulting group
A Microsoft Certified Partners. In 2007 UCSG Group helped the COHP install a new integrated management solution based on Microsoft BI Technologies. Because of the new integrated system process of organizing and data distribution was streamlined.

The new solution at COHP named a LINCS – Lean Information Control System includes the user required enhance analysis and specimen data extraction from old system to SQL Server 2005. From there technologists and pathologists analyze and process data using MS Excel 2003 spreadsheet software, Microsoft Visio 2003 and third part tool lean view.

Read the complete Case study

In writing this post we followed the Funds Database example in SQL Server OLAP Developer’s Guide by William C Amo published year 2000, check with Amazon if this is available. We like this example because it elaborated the process of populating the fact table very well.

The sql statement was executed to populate fact 2 fact tables (Please see funds Star Schema picture)
as follows;
1- Investments
2- Dividends

Sql statement for populating fact table Investments
select a.manager_num, M.office_num, f.fund_cd,f.fundacctno,t.trandate,
t.amount from accounts a INNER join managers m on a.manager_num=m.manager_num
inner join fundaccounts f on a.acct_no = f.ACCT_NO
INNER JOIN TRANHISTORY T ON (F.FUND_CD = T.fUND_CD) And f.fundacctno = t.fundacctno
Where t.trantype = ‘invest’
—————————————————-
Sql statement for populating fact table Dividends
select a.manager_num, M.office_num, f.fund_cd,f.fundacctno,t.trandate,
t.amount from accounts a INNER join managers m on a.manager_num=m.manager_num
inner join fundaccounts f on a.acct_no = f.ACCT_NO
INNER JOIN TRANHISTORY T ON (F.FUND_CD = T.fUND_CD) And f.fundacctno = t.fundacctno
Where t.trantype <> ‘invest’

Creating four dimensions – Managers, Offices, Funds, and Accounts sions should be simple (Please see Funds OLTP Picture and Funds Star Schema), we will write more in our next post please feel free to add more o this topic.

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