cihi redirects here . for the radio station see cihi fm . canadian institute for health information type private not for profit industry health care health indicators biostatistics health informatics founded 1994 headquarters canada key people david o toole president & ceo products health information reports number of employees 700 slogan better data . better decisions . healthier canadians . website www.cihi.ca the canadian institute for health information cihi is an independent not for profit corporation that aims to contribute to the improvement of the health of canadians and the health care system by disseminating quality health information . 1 its vision is to help improve canada s health system and the well being of canadians by being a leading source of unbiased credible and comparable information that will enable health leaders to make better informed decisions . additionally cihi s data and reports are provided to help inform health policies support the effective delivery of health services and to raise awareness among canadians in general on current research and trends in the healthcare industry that contribute to better health outcomes . 2 cihi was established in 1994 . it is governed by a 16 member board of directors that links federal provincial and territorial governments with non governmental health related groups . the members represent health sectors and all regions of canada and their strategic guidance steers cihi s activities and functions . cihi has offices in toronto and ottawa as well as branches in montreal victoria and st. john s. 3 contents 1 historical overview 2 featured content 3 cihi and federal health authorities 4 data sharing agreements 5 databases 6 canadian population health initiative cphi 7 electronic health records 8 cihi as a research tool 9 privacy and security 10 see also 11 references 12 external links historical overview edit cihi was incorporated under the canada corporations act in 1994 . 4 federal provincial and territorial governments created cihi as a not for profit independent organization dedicated to forging a common approach to canadian health information . 2 cihi has a unique mandate to make health information publicly available to canadians . 2 the royal commission on the future of health care in canada romanow report tabled a final report to the house of commons on 28 november 2002 that recommended that a health council of canada should be established by the provincial territorial and federal governments to facilitate co operation and provide national leadership in achieving the superior health outcomes . the health council would be built on the existing infrastructure of the canadian institute for health information and the canadian coordinating office of health technology assessment ccohta . 5 the following year in november 2003 the standing senate committee on social affairs science and technology released a report the senator kirby report that emphasized the need for cooperation among all stakeholders to reduce problems of maldistribution undersupply and jurisdictional competition 6 within the canadian healthcare system . the report also recommend the federal government to work with other concerned parties to create a permanent national coordinating body for hhr health human resources to be composed of representatives from key stakeholder groups and the different levels of government . 6 cihi co authored a report to this standing senate committee with canadian institutes of health research cihr entitled charting the course a pan canadian consultation on population and public health priorities may 2002 . 7 an outcome of the final senate report was cihi s creation of the health personnel database with funding by health canada . cihi s core mandate is to provide insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system in canada with respects to the populations needs . connect the performance of the health care system to the actual outcomes . help decision and policy makers assess the changes in policies practices and processes and their impacts within the health care system . 8 featured content edit cihi produces various reports to support those who partake in health services research they collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to create and maintain a broad range of health databases measurements and standards . it draws on them as well as outside sources to develop publicly available reports and analyses . these reports include strategic directions report which outlines the priorities identified by the stakeholders and speaks to what cihi will be pursuing over the next four years in our efforts to serve their needs . annual report which provides an overview of the organization its corporate achievements of the past fiscal year the priorities for the upcoming year and a summary of the audited financial statements . cihi directions which is released three times a year to give the public insight at the work that cihi is accomplishing . product and services guide which assists clients and stakeholders in obtaining various relevant information on the products and services that cihi offers . the product and services guide cover topics such as types of care e.g. primary health care acute care community care health system performance e.g. wait times quality of care and outcomes indicators spending and health workforce e.g. government expenditures ; drug spending ; doctors and nurses factors influencing health e.g. environmental socio economic and lifestyle issues cihi also promotes the understanding and use of its data standards and methods through online tools as well as a variety of workshops courses and conferences . in the cihi report prescribed drug spending in canada 2013 it was confirmed that cost saving generic prescription medicines have been the key to controlling drug costs in canada . however those savings were offset by increased spending on newer classes of biologic drugs or specialty drugs with biologic drugs as the biggest cost driver . 9 the canadian generic pharmaceutical association cgpa emphasizes the need for clear rules for the approval and reimbursement of cost saving biosimilar products in canada to ensure the ongoing sustainability of drug benefit plans and improve patient access to treatments . 9 cihi and federal health authorities edit canadian institutes of health research cihr the canadian institutes of health research cihr worked with cihi to create the population health intervention research casebook 2011 . 10 this casebook suggests implementation processes supporting population health intervention research . 11 this collaborative effort is representative of the close working relationship between these health authorities . data liberation initiative dli statistics canada the data liberation initiative dli was created in 1996 two years after cihi s inception . 12 the dli mirrors cihi s mandate to facilitate access to government statistical information . their close creation evidences a federal e government movement . cihi has taken over data collection and distribution responsibilities from other federal health authorities . in 1995 statistics canada transferred data collection functions for the therapeutic abortions database tadb to the canadian institute for health information . 13 eleven years later in 2006 statistics canada passed on data publication responsibility to cihi as well . today cihi is exclusively responsible for the tadb . health canada in 2005 cihi received funding from health canada to complete a health human resources databases development project . 14 this project aimed to provide a national picture of five regulated health professions in canada . cihi forged relationships with key professional colleges and regulatory bodies to accomplish this health hr project . the outcome of the project was the creation of the health personnel database today with eight subsidiary databases . data sharing agreements edit cihi tracks data in the different provinces with the help of information that is provided by hospitals regional health authorities medical practitioners and governments bodies . this information is used by these various bodies to assess the various facets of our health care system and use it as a planning tool . there are several different submission applications available some being system specific . most clients use the application called edss electronic data submission service to provide a secure and timely method for sending data files to cihi and receiving data files from cihi over the internet . 15 edss requires a registered client access codes that provides a user the ability to submit data to cihi . other applications include the canadian mis database submission reports provide feedback to those providing the data ensuring that the data provided meets the technical requirements of the mis standards these are private reports that can only be viewed by a selected representative . the cjrr web based data submission tool allows those included in the canadian joint replacement registry to enter and submit data and produce various reports over the internet in real time . home care reporting system submission report provides those authorized with secure and timely access to reports generated by through from the data that is provided by hcrs . and e management reports that allows clients to see a web based snapshot of all of their data submissions to six of cihi s data holdings . users can also access summaries of their submissions statistics on error rates and timeliness . 15 data requests cihi publishes statistics and health information that are generally available to the public and can be accessed through their data holding pages . most of the information is general statistics but customized data requests can also be made specifically which are subject to cihi s privacy policy . cihi has two different price points for their data request services . charges are based on production time the time needed to review a data request consult and develop specifications manipulate and or analyze data seek cihi support performing data quality assurance and data transmission . . 16 the first price point is applicable to canadian health care facilities government and not for profit agencies universities health professionals and researchers in the public sector which is 137 per hour . the second price point is applicable to the private sector foreign clients and others not qualifying for the previous price point and this cost is at 205 per hour . 16 graduate student data access program cihi has set up a graduate student data access program that provides qualifying graduate students with access to cihi s data at no cost whatsoever . graduate students may only use this program in order to fulfill academic requirements of their program . the objective of gsdap is to to build the capacity of graduate students to undertake health service research ; to increase awareness of cihi and cihi s data holdings and the importance of data quality and privacy as graduate students pursue health service careers . students must be conducting research and can access data through the various databases that fall under the following subject headings health services health spending and health human resources . their research must fall in line with cihi s mandate to provide accurate and timely information that is required for sound health policy effective management of the health care system and public awareness of health determinants . 17 databases edit cihi manages a number of canadian health databases . these include the health personnel database national physician database npdb registered nurses database rndb pharmacist database pdb occupational therapist database otdb medical radiation technologist database mrtdb medical laboratory technologist database mltdb physiotherapist database ptdb scott s medical database smd cihi health spending databases canadian management information system database cmdb national health expenditure database nhex health services information discharge abstract database dad national rehabilitation reporting system nrs national prescription drug utilization information system npduis organization for economic co operation and development oecd health database canadian segment national ambulatory care reporting system nacrs canadian joint replacement registry cjrr national trauma registry ntr therapeutic abortions database tadb ontario mental health reporting system omhrs hospital morbidity database hmdb national health expenditure database nhex canadian organ replacement register corr continuing care reporting system ccrs hospital mental health database hmhdb canadian management information system database cmdb canadian multiple sclerosis monitoring system cmsms each cihi database record is accompanied by data quality