Strategies and Tools to Support Equity, Safety, and Quality in Virtual Care Delivery

Morenike Akinyemi, Senior Manager, Change Management and Engagement at Canada Health Infoway

Morenike is a digital health enthusiast who started off her career as a pharmacist and has progressively transitioned into roles where she is facilitating the use of technology to address clinical priorities. She has hands on experience working with clinicians, patients, leadership and other relevant stakeholders to lead the implementation of various technology solutions to support virtual visits, remote patient monitoring, online cognitive behavioural therapy, etc.

In her current role at Infoway, she supports continuous consultation and engagement with key stakeholders, government and strategic partners to foster collaboration and partnerships with stakeholders as well as to regularly share goals and objectives of the Infoway’s strategic priorities, gather input and feedback and proactively raise awareness of the impact, successes and results of the Infoway’s initiatives.

Jessie Checkley, Senior Program Lead at Healthcare Excellence Canada

Jessie Checkley is a Senior Program Lead on the Health Innovations Programs team at Healthcare Excellence Canada. She brings over 15 years of experience in leading the design, delivery and evaluation of pan-Canadian quality improvement initiatives including Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care, Bridge-to-Home, Essential Together (Better Together), Call for Innovations in Palliative Care and the EXTRA: Executive Training Program. Jessie's background is in Project Management, Business Administration and Accounting. She comes to this work as the caregiver for her aging parents and her partner.

David Kaplan, Vice President, Quality at Ontario Health

David M. Kaplan MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP is the Vice President, Quality at Ontario Health (Clinical Institutes and Quality Programs). Previously, he was the Chief, Clinical Quality and Primary Care Quality Lead at Health Quality Ontario. Dr. Kaplan is an academic family physician at North York General Hospital, where he serves as the Deputy Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee. He is an associate professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine and Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. He completed his graduate training in Health Policy and Bioethics in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is a fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Jennifer Rayner, Director, Research and Policy at Alliance for Healthier Communities

Dr. Rayner is an applied health services researcher with interests in primary health care, interprofessional teams and health equity. She is the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Alliance for Healthier Communities, an Adjunct Research Professor at Western University within the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, and an Associate Professor at University of Toronto in the Department of Community and Family Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation. Dr. Rayner has been a principle or co-investigator for numerous studies about virtual delivery of primary health care.

Kevin Samson, Family Physician at East Wellington Family Health Team

Dr. Samson has been practicing family medicine for over 35 years. He is also a software design engineer and has had extensive experience in the design, development and application of digital health solutions throughout his career. Dr. Samson was a member of the Virtual Care Together Design Collaborative Team that developed the Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) and Canada Health Infoway (CHI) Clinician Change Virtual Care Toolkit, which included the Virtual Care Evaluation Guide. He is continuing to work with HEC on their Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care Collaborative to improve access to appropriate, culturally safe and equitable care in northern, rural and remote communities across the country.