Harkness Project Title: 

The Use of Health System Performance Data to Make International Comparisons

Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Jennifer Zelmer, a 2002–03 Canadian Associate of the Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice, is a director of special projects at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). She initiated and now oversees an integrated program of analytical activities, including leading teams responsible for developing CIHI's annual report on health care in Canada.  She is also leading a corporate data quality strategies study.  Prior to joining the institute, she worked with a variety of health, academic, and governmental organizations in Canada, Australia, Denmark, and India, among other countries. She is currently completing a doctoral thesis at McMaster University, focusing on the economic burden of chronic illnesses. Zelmer is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, a research associate with the Research Institute for Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population at McMaster University, and a member of a number of health-related boards and advisory committees.

Project: Zelmer investigated short- and long-term opportunities for more systematic and sophisticated approaches to making cross-national health system comparisons in order to inform the policy debate.  She used population-based survey data in Canada, Australia, and the U.S. to examine the impacts of health care policies such as universal coverage on health care disparities across both time and countries. 

Career Activity Since Fellowship

• Senior Vice President for Clinical Adoption and Innovation, Canada Health Infoway, 2010
• Editor-in-Chief, Healthcare Policy/Politiques de santé, 2009
• Career Award, Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2008
• CEO, International Health Terminology Standards Organisation, 2008
• Vice President, Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2003

• Senior Vice President for Clinical Adoption and Innovation, Canada Health Infoway.
• Editor-in-Chief, Health Care Policy/Politiques de santé

(Updated August 2010)

E-mail: jze@ihtsdo.org

Harkness-Related Publications

Zelmer J, Pulcins I, Tracey J. Health Care in Canada 2007. (Translated as Les soins de santé au Canada 2006).  Ottawa: CIHI.  978-1-55465-050-7 and 978-1-55465-052-1.

Zelmer J, Bingham J, Tracey J, Finlay P. (Eds.) (2006). Health Care in Canada 2006.  (Translated as Les soins de santé au Canada 2006).  Ottawa: CIHI.  ISBN 1-55392-857-1 and 1-55392-859-8.

Gyorfi-Dyke E, Zelmer J. (Eds.) (2005).  Improving the Health of Young Canadians. (Translated as Améliorer la santé des jeunes Canadiens). Ottawa: CIHI. ISBN 1-55392-653-6 and 1-55392-681-1.

Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2005). Canada’s Health Care Providers: 2005 Chartbook. (Translated as Les dispensateurs de soins au Canada : Graphiques 2005.) Ottawa: CIHI.    ISBN 1-55392-630-7 and 1-55392-631-5.

Zelmer J, Bingham J, Tracey J, Gula C, Finlay P. (Eds.) (2005). Health Care in Canada 2005. (Translated as Les soins de santé au Canada 2005).  Ottawa: CIHI. ISBN 1-55392-617-X and 1-55392-619-6.

Zelmer J, Leeb K, Gula C, Finlay P, Bingham J. (Eds.) (2004). Health Care in Canada 2004 (Translated as Les soins de santé au Canada 2004).  Ottawa: CIHI.  ISBN 1-55392-406-1 and 1-55392-407-X.

Zelmer J, Virani S, Alvarez R, and Walker J. “Recent Developments in Health Information: An International Perspective,” in Hunter E., Parrish R.G., and Friedman D., eds. Health Statistics in the 21^st Century: Implications for Health Policy and Practice, Oxford University Press, 2005.

Lewis S, Zelmer J, and Leeb K, eds. Health Care in Canada 2003, Ottawa: Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2003.