Facilities

SIMS changes shape into an association

TORONTO – An information management and information technology (IM/IT) partnership between 16 healthcare organizations in the Greater Toronto Area is getting a facelift. With the increasing size of the SIMS Partnership, members have elected to revise the group’s structure to a more formal ‘association’ and change the name to the GTA Health Information Collaborative (HIC).

A sub-set of the group that shares IM/IT resources will continue under the SIMS Partnership name and as a major IM/IT delivery partner for the region.

“This is the next step in the evolution of our growing IM/IT partnership,” said Barry McLellan, Chair of the GTA HIC and President and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. “As healthcare organizations across the GTA collaborate further on these types of projects, we can only stand to improve the experience for our patients.

“SIMS provided a great foundation for this important step in our development and this association continues to move in the right direction for the Ontario healthcare system.”

Since its inception in 2004, the SIMS partners have worked on integrating projects across all participating organizations, which consist of acute, rehabilitation, community, complex continuing and long-term care facilities.

The group has leveraged IM/IT as a key enabler for health system improvement, increasing electronic charting capability, streamlining and standardizing referral processes and improving the use of information to support patient safety, better access to care and more optimal use of healthcare resources.

The SIMS Partnership’s collective success and commitment to improve patient care has benefitted each partner organization as well as the broader healthcare system.

“Through SIMS, we worked together to improve and achieve the seamless transition of care for clients across the healthcare field, securely exchanging client information as needed between acute care, cancer care, CCACs, long-term care facilities, community providers and rehab,” said Camille Orridge, CEO of the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre.

“As we have grown, we realized we needed a renewed structure to maintain the momentum. The association continues on this path – meeting the needs of our clients.”

Governance for the association will be provided by CEOs of all member organizations and a selected Chair. The GTA HIC will continue to drive high quality clinical and service collaboration and integration in the GTA, enabled by the IM/IT expertise provided through the SIMS Partnership and the resources of the other individual organizations.

To date, the association’s members include Bridgepoint Health, Central Community Care Access Centre, Humber River Regional Hospital, North York General Hospital, Providence Healthcare, St. John’s Rehab Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre, Toronto East General Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Trillium Health Centre, University Health Network, West Park Healthcare Centre and Women’s College Hospital.

Posted March 11, 2010