The Critical Care Research Network shares information among 30+ locations. It consists of:

• 9 teaching hospitals
• 24 community hospitals
• Industry and government partners

I-THINK Research is working with CCR-Net to:

• Describe ICU practice patterns in participating hospitals
• Identify opportunities to:
  • Improve patient care delivery
  • Reduce inappropriate resource consumption
  • Provide opportunities for decision makers to:
• Review the results with research colleagues
  • Generate further hypotheses
  • Generate quality improvement projects

Funded by a Heart & Stroke Foundation grant, I-TEACH is a pilot project to study the impact of internet-based education and health management on people living with heart failure.

Heart failure patients enrolled in the study will have access to innovative video and text educational materials, self-management tools, and healthcare professional support via an internet-based portal. Participants will be assessed throughout the study to determine the impact of the program on patient knowledge of heart disease, medication compliance, and quality of life. Healthcare resource utilization, such as emergency room visits, also will be analyzed by the research team.

The study is being led by Dr. Femida Gwadry-Sridhar, the Director of Health Informatics at Lawson Research Institute, with collaboration from Dr. Malcolm Arnold, London Health Sciences Centre, and Dr. Donald Cowan of the Computer Systems Group at University of Waterloo. Waterloo-based MedManager Interactive Corp. will be the technology partner for the initiative.

The Stroke Prevention & Atherosclerosis Research Centre (SPARC) tracking system is an online management tool for patients suffering from heart disease and stroke. This system has the ability to track a patient's health, status and appointments. The platform was designed for Dr. David Spence MD, FRCPC, FAHA and his clinical staff.

Funded by Health Technology Exchange, this project sees the launch of MedManagers LiveWell. Connected. Portal. This project uses an internet-based tool to enhance compliance in the health of patients with prostate cancer, in cardiac rehab, or diabetes.

The portal provides patients with access to information, tools, and support that will promote greater self- and collaborative-management of chronic disease. Portals include features such as: a library with educational materials; a diary to record and graph treatments, and track laboratory test dates and results; a community forum where you can give and receive support; a calendar to help manage health-related appointments; reminders for tests and appointments.

Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the objective of this project is to produce a validated questionnaire that will allow for improved surveillance of hypertension in Canada by providing comprehensive and detailed data on hypertensive patients.