Reflections as the HDC Executive Director

It has been a year since I began my role as the Executive Director at Health Data Coalition (HDC) in August 2020. As the lead of a physician-governed not-for-profit organization, I can see how our organization can support our family physicians to use their Electronic Medical Records data to inform their practice and communities for quality improvement, planning and initiative evaluation purposes.

This time last year, I was excited about the direction of the organization, the people I would work alongside and the projects I would move forward. Here are the key observations from my first 12 months as ED:

1. Reinforced Motivation Through Different Lenses

Prior to taking the lead of the organization, I was an HDC Board Member and Finance and Audit Committee Chair, which enabled me to understand the organization at a strategic level. Over the last year I’ve transitioned to the centre of the operational execution and inner workings of this grassroots organization. I have loved getting back into the operations, connecting with physician users and supporting the development of our HDC Discover web application. HDC has a big vision for supporting system transformation and the opportunity to navigate the organization towards our goals has been rewarding. I am fortunate to work alongside such dedicated and engaged Board and staff members that can keep the big picture in sight, while rolling up their sleeves.

In addition, my recent personal experiences of navigating the healthcare system for my elderly parents have only emphasized the importance of longitudinal care to support care transitions. I continue to be appreciative of our family doctors and grateful for the resilience and dedication of each physician I’ve met, which fuels my motivation to grow and expand the HDC.

2. Support of Physician Curiosity and QI Efforts

The past year has created a lot of challenges for physicians in BC and around the world. They are stretched thinner than ever. One of the unintended outcomes of the opioid crisis and COVID-19 pandemic is how the communication of aggregate health data has been normalized for the public. This concept can be extended to normalize aggregate health data in primary care so we can understand and support our system where needed.

This has also created more opportunities for data enabled discussions with our physicians and the organizations who support them, often sparking physician curiosity. In 2020/21, HDC led a series of webinars, focused on four different clinical topics that attracted over 240 attendees. With over 70 returning attendees we know there’s an appetite for this content.?

3. Small Efforts Equal Big Changes?

We get excited when our physicians are interested to learn more about their practice data. QI isn’t automatically built into the structure of a physician’s day and it requires intentional effort to incorporate protected time for QI. Knowing physicians use HDC Discover for practice reflection is so inspiring when we see how these small efforts, or new good habits, add up towards our larger vision. Regular reflection or detecting themes in one’s patient panel can make significant impact to patients’ lives. Dr. Omesh Syal’s story is a great example of this.?

4. Divisions Access

Healthcare is a team sport, so it makes sense to bring together the groups that are supporting primary care physicians. That’s why we redesigned HDC Discover’s permissions model to extend access to the Divisions of Family Practice, enabling Divisions to view community aggregates. The aggregate trends help the communities understand their current baselines, identify where additional support is needed and prioritize resources. I’m very proud of our team’s launch and support of this new user type as it facilitates sharing community insights to inform other levels of our healthcare system.

It’s been an incredible first year for me at HDC. We’ve accomplished a lot, strengthened our team and reinforced our vision where community physician data is shared and transformed into knowledge for better health. Keep connected with HDC and me for more updates.

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