Research collaborations
The Health Quality Council works with academic and clinician-researchers, patient partners, administrative decision-makers, policy-makers as well as communities to explore key questions that matter about health and health care quality of Saskatchewan residents.
Examples of these collaborations where we contribute our measurement and analytical experience include:
- The Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR): SCPOR is a collaboration of eight Saskatchewan organizations – including the Saskatchewan health Quality Council – that have committed resources to building provincial and national capacity for patient-oriented research.
- The Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES): the Health Quality Council is the Saskatchewan site for this national network that develops state-of-the-art analytical methods and networks of highly-skilled researchers, data analysts and clinicians that are able to rapidly evaluate the risks and benefits of drugs on the health of Canadians.
Examples of Health Quality Council’s research collaborations
Care Pathways Analytics: Integrating patient-centred outcomes in economic evaluations of care pathways in Saskatchewan
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and economic impacts of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease care pathway program (COPD-CPP) in Saskatchewan. Funded by Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) through The Sprout Grant, the research objectives are to assess the impacts of the COPD care pathway program on health care use and costs, and on patients’ health outcomes, as well as assessing the short-term cost-effectiveness of the COPD care pathway program.
The Health Quality Council is providing the data linkage analyst support, and building capability and skills with an external analyst to complete the analysis.
Health Services Use and Trajectories of People who are Transgender and Gender Diverse in Saskatchewan
This project aims to show the patterns of health services use of transgender and gender diverse people in our province. This evidence will support the larger project that is evaluating the impact of peer navigators in assisting transgender and gender diverse people as they access care.
This research, along with the wider project, will increase research capacity and outreach, create new knowledge, inform health care practices and training, and address social, health, and healthcare access for people who are transgender and gender diverse.
The Health Quality Council is providing research and analyst support to a team of researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and patient partners through its data services role.
Examining Health Services Use of Rural and Remote Memory Clinic (RRMC) Patients
The goal of this study is to increase understanding of mild cognitive impairment and dementia among patients, factors that might lead to earlier diagnoses, factors affecting patients’ referral to memory clinics, and the impact of diagnoses on medical care and health service use. This work sheds new light on the health system and resource use among dementia patients both before and after diagnosis.
The Health Quality Council’s access to and knowledge of administrative health data is critical to this study. The Health Quality Council is able to link the RRMC-collected data related to the abilities and care of patients with data collected in other aspects of the health care system.
Predictors, Patterns, and Outcomes of Opioid Use in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
The goal of this project is to determine the cumulative incidence of opioid use and chronic opioid use, as well as evaluate trends in the prevalence of opioid use over time. Through this research, the impact of opioids on IBD-related and all-cause health service utilization, and direct health care costs will be evaluated. The impact of opioids on the risk of long-term outcomes will also be determined and predictors of patients at risk for chronic opioid use will be identified.
The Health Quality Council is providing the data linkage analyst support and building capability with an external analyst to complete the analysis along with local researcher, Dr. Pena-Sanchez. Dr. Pena-Sanchez is part of the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC).
The Rising Burden of Lung Cancer: An inter-provincial health economic analysis
This project is a historical cohort analysis of adult patients diagnosed with a primary diagnosis of lung cancer in Saskatchewan and Ontario over a 10-year period. Cancer registry data will be linked with provincial large health databases to estimate and compare healthcare-related costs of lung cancer between provinces.
Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), this project is being led by Dr. Erika Penz in collaboration with a research team from the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
The Health Quality Council is accessing large health databases and linking to Saskatchewan Cancer Agency data, performing the analysis to produce the evidence from Saskatchewan.
Understanding the Challenge of Dementia in Saskatchewan First Nations
This study is the first step to better understanding care and access issues for First Nations people with dementia in Saskatchewan. The results from this study will assist First Nations leadership, policymakers, program developers and researchers better understand the complexities and context of dementia in First Nations populations, improve programs supporting First Nations health care services, and support policy change and the development of tools to work towards improving the health and wellbeing of First Nations people. This project provides a potential platform for ethical, participatory, and community-driven analyses of First Nations-identified administrative health care data.
The Health Quality Council is collaborating with the local research team by accessing large health databases and applying our researcher and analyst support.
Ultrasound Imaging Utilization in Saskatchewan: A cross-sectional study
This work is part of a larger study aimed at determining the impact of bringing telesonography to rural communities. Telesonography is a technology that allows a sonographer to conduct an ultrasound exam from a different location. The study sought to answer the question of how distance from an ultrasound affects peoples’ and patients’ ultrasound use.
This work is important because it helps address one aspect of inequities in care that often exist between rural and urban citizens. It can also help give decision-makers evidence they can use to defend resource allocation decisions.
This study leveraged the Health Quality Council’s access to and expertise in administrative health data as well as statistical modelling.
Health research partnerships contact
To inquire about opportunities for health research partnerships and collaborations, please visit our Contact Us page for the most up-to-date contact information.
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