TEKTIC Personified?
An Interview with Dr. Elaine Chong

By Jennifer Cordeiro

Brought in as a replacement when TEKTIC member Dr. Anne Nguyen went on maternity leave in August 2008, Dr. Elaine Chong seems as if she has always belonged. She’s someone who wants to help people by making a difference, touts the importance of knowledge translation, and sees the promise of technology in healthcare. In essence, she could be TEKTIC personified.

“I went into school thinking I wanted a job where I could help people. And I think that is still one of the overriding values that drives me,” reflects Elaine, “Pharmacy fit that bill. [And] I guess I have always had interest in technology.” Graduating with a Doctor of Pharmacy from UBC, using electronic media in the healthcare context was something Elaine was exposed to throughout her education and training. One of her first jobs out of graduate school brought it all together. “I was taken on by a consulting company in Toronto. They were into pushing the traditional boundaries of how health information is communicated. For example, they built websites and CD ROMs, and did a lot continuing health professional education that way. That got me into electronic media as a way to share health information with the public or healthcare professionals.”

And Elaine sees that the provision of better care includes eHealth. In her role as Acting Director of Evaluation and Information in the Drug Use Optimization Branch, Pharmaceutical Services Division in the B.C. Ministry of Health Services, Elaine is able to see firsthand the potential for the role of eHealth during the recent H1N1 (Human Swine Flu) situation. “One observation with this particular crisis was the recognition and rise of social media.” This trend was not limited to the public as different organizations (including governments) actively utilized a variety of mass-media communication vehicles (including television advertisements and Twitter feeds). “People could be plugged in and get up-to-the-minute updates,” Elaine enthuses. “If I compare that to SARS in 2003, when I was a graduate pharmacy student the emergency room at VGH, I remember getting updates on an hourly basis about what to do with the patients coming in. eHealth has really changed the landscape now. [I see eHealth] satisfying information needs among healthcare professionals as well as the public. It’s a tool we can use to coordinate a response.” It’s not just the healthcare professionals who can benefit from eHealth, and Elaine also highlights how eHealth can impact care, “Time is of the essence when it comes to situations like H1N1. We have to do our part in sharing accurate, pertinent information in a timely fashion, and sometimes there are challenges and barriers. eHealth can be a powerful platform that ready to help coordinate this sharing to ensure that people are getting the best care.”

Elaine sees the promise of eHealth extending beyond the coordination piece, “I think we have seen the beginning of it. I think people will develop new ways to communicate amongst themselves and with their teams of healthcare professionals.” When asked where technology will fit into healthcare years from now, Elaine reflects, “If I think back to the “offline age” 20 years ago, I don’t think I would have ever thought of online banking, web flight check-in, virtual marketplaces to buy/sell stuff … it’s really hard to say where we will be in 20 years from now because I think we will always under-predict. The future is an exciting destination!”

As for TEKTIC’s role, Elaine sees the biggest area of impact for the group in knowledge translation (KT), “I like the KT angle a lot because I think that there’s a huge opportunity there. There is a lot of really great research, a lot of really great information – the challenge is always being able to get it out there, shaping the messages to a usable context, and in initiating and maintaining changes in practice.” And her vision for TEKTIC? “It would be great to have TEKTIC continue its KT efforts! It’s a challenging time for funding, but I hope we rise to the challenge and showcase TEKTIC folks who have been doing outstanding work. I think the TEKTIC workshop will be a great venue for a number of the different projects.”