Project: Centres for Health Evidence Demonstration Project

Health Infostructure Support Program

Background

The emergence of a knowledge-based health economy is changing the information needs of hospitals, community practices, libraries, and the general public. As networks are linked to bring resources to a number of locations and sites, practitioners, each with different information preferences all need efficient on-line training and support. Patients are also becoming electronic health information consumers, with access to resources previously restricted to health practitioners. As such, they need help to recognize better quality sources and to understand the limits of their use.

Project Description

The principal task of Centres for Health Evidence (CHE) is to package and present existing health knowledge to make it more useful for a variety of users. CHE monitor knowledge-based software from commercial, institutional, government, academic and research sources. Significant resources are assessed, registered, and indexed and short summaries are developed to alert users to the quality of evidence supporting health recommendations, the relative importance of recommendations, and how the needs of specific patients, practitioners and settings are addressed. The CHEs provide consistent, simple, integrated and user-friendly points of access to existing evidence based health resources. When users connect to the system, they are presented with specific software, internet access, educational resources, tips and surveys. Over time, this desktop adjusts to users' information gathering behaviours.

Project Funding under HISP: $495,654.45

Project Management: University of Alberta

For further information contact:

Dr. Robert Hayward
Director, Health Informatics Program
Departments of Public Health Sciences and Medicine
13-103 Clinical Sciences Building
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2G3
Tel: (780) 492-6632
Fax: (780) 492-0364

robert.hayward@ualberta.ca