Full Keynote Speech in The University of Toronto Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Julia Novik (MBA, CA, Lean Green Belt, Founder of Canada Health Net) & Charanjit Singh Bawa (PMP, Lean Black Belt, Change Agent for Canada Health Net) were invited as keynote speakers to 8th annual conference “Health Innovation – Designing a Better Tomorrow” hosted by The University of Toronto Institute for Healthcare Improvement (UTIHI).

“After spending fifteen years in healthcare, both on private and public sides, I’ve came up with the vision of Canada Health Net and what I want this organization to become when it grows up. Certainly one of our vision factors is enhancing patient care. We want to ensure that inefficiencies and waste are reduced and patient safety is increased,” says Julia Novik, the keynote speaker and founder of Canada Health Net. “No business will be surviving or stay alive if they don’t address customers’ needs. So for every business we need to make sure we provide value to our customers. And I think we need to be looking at healthcare the same way.”

You can watch the full keynote speech below:

According to Marija Zivcevska, UTIHI president, this year’s theme was health innovation and designing a better tomorrow. “What we really want to do is to examine the way technology aims to help deliver access to high-quality healthcare system,” says Marija.

“The process used to take four months and it’s done in one day today,” says Charanjit Bawa, Lean Coach in Canada Health Net. “Lean is simple, Lean is common sense. If you deepdive, if you train your people if you ask right questions, you will get the right answer. One day just watch the patients flow in your organization. Just stop and see. You will find out what is wrong in your process.”

UTIHI is a local Chapter established in 2009 as part of the larger Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School. Currently, IHI is made up of 900 chapters in over 90 countries worldwide. It represents students across various departments at the University of Toronto, such as nursing, pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, medical radiation, engineering, allied health professionals, social work, kinesiology, health policy, management, and public health.

“We are committed to connecting you to quality improvement and patient safety opportunities in established healthcare communities across Toronto,” UTIHI official website states. “You will gain foundational skills, knowledge, and valuable experience to become an agent of change for the future.”