CHICAGO – 20 November 2007 – Initiate Systems, Inc., today announced Saskatchewan Health and Initiate Systems have received the Canadian Health Informatics “Project Implementation Team of the Year” Award granted by CHITTA, the Health Division of Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). The award recognizes Saskatchewan Health and Initiate Systems for innovation in the adoption of Health Informatics in successful development of a shared client index (SCI) using Initiate Patient™, a high performing enterprise master person index (EMPI). This award also honors the private and public sector team effort in the delivery of the solution on time and within budget, working effectively together in its implementation.

“Congratulations to this year’s Project Implementation Team winners on their achievement” said Steven Huesing, president, CHITTA. “Executing a complex technology project like this on time within budget, while hitting all project objectives, is testament to the commitment and teamwork of Saskatchewan Health and their vendor-partner Initiate Systems. The true beneficiaries of this work will be Saskatchewan citizens.”

“Saskatchewan Client Registry team demonstrated a commitment to a partnership, which fostered innovation and creativity,” commented Lorraine Fernandes, vice president and healthcare industry ambassador, Initiate Systems. “The Saskatchewan team handled everything with poise and professionalism, overcoming complications of scope and scale to implement successfully the SCI for Saskatchewan in less than a year.”

As a result of collaboration and teamwork, the Client Registry Index fulfilled its prescribed purpose of becoming the foundation for long-term interoperability. Consideration was given to interoperability along with other electronic health initiatives (EHR), including picture archiving communication (PACs), lab repository and pharmacy information program.

“The team agreed that sharing access to the data and the data management functions was not a single department’s responsibility,” said a Saskatchewan Health representative. “We all participated in the management of the SCI data, determining that access to collective data was important for appropriate health record management.”

“Providing a shared accountability process for data quality turned out to be effective in achieving and maintaining high data quality.”

The SCI team from Saskatchewan Health and Initiate Systems received their award on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at the 3rd Annual Canadian Health Informatics Awards ceremony. The event celebrated excellence and achievement in the Canadian healthcare informatics community, publicly recognizing the contributions of individuals and companies in the effective use of information and technology towards the improvement of health for all Canadians.