Health information technologies (IT) are revolutionizing and streamlining healthcare and their uptake is rising dramatically. The variety and range of technologies and software applications is considerable and there is increasing demand for implementation of health IT in hospitals, clinics, homes and in the virtual space of mHealth, pervasive healthcare and social media. However, to effectively implement these technologies scientific research and industrial and governmental supports must be strongly in place in order to transform health care and build capacity at the regional, national and global levels.

The conference will take a multi-perspective view about what is needed in order to move technology along to real sustained and widespread use in moving research findings and approaches into practice. Solutions range from improvements in usability and training, to need for new and improved design of information systems, user interfaces and interoperable solutions, to governmental policy, mandates, initiatives and need for regulation. In addition, greater interaction will be needed among industrial, governmental and academic partners.

We believe that the knowledge and insights gained from the ITCH 2019 conference will stimulate fruitful discussions and collaborations among the participants in ways that can bridge research and practice to improve the usability, safety and patient outcomes through innovative and responsible application of health IT solutions.

Francis Lau PhD, Professor

School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada