Research Interests: mission-critical systems in the health sector, IT management strategies, areas in the context of critical incident response and emergency management
Ian McKillop, PhD, FRSPH, is a professor with the School of Public Health & Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. Professor McKillop began his academic career in the University of Waterloo’s School of Accountancy where his teaching responsibilities focused on computerized financial systems. His interest in how these systems could be used to drive innovation in healthcare brought him to the burgeoning field of health informatics.
After spending a number of years at a leading business school, Ian returned to Waterloo in 2004 as the JW Graham Chair in Health Information Systems. He now leads the management and systems practice within Canada’s only School of Public Health and Health Systems. Among his interests are finding ways to foster effective IT management strategies, creating high performance organizations empowered by information, and addressing technical issues related to information systems assurance (audit and control). He has a growing interest in these areas in the context of critical incident response and emergency management. Dr McKillop was one of the original six investigators who launched the Ontario Hospital Report series in 1998 – the initiative from which HSPRN grew. Together with partners at the University of Toronto, Ian remains active today in exploring the science of health system performance measurement.
Professor McKillop’s work on funding and financial reporting in healthcare has contributed to a variety of commissions and reports including Romanow and Clair (Quebec). He has lived and consulted internationally and has served as a governor of a public hospital.