Innovation in the development of e-health systems that offer groundbreaking health services to meet the needs of consumers, health care organizations, and communities is the focus of this year’s symposium. The Annual Kay-CGU Symposium brings together pioneering researchers, educators, and practitioners in a collaborative forum aimed at advancing knowledge, research, and policy recommendations within electronic health and disability realms. This year we will feature experts from across the “Pacific Edge”, providing a regional flavor on innovation while at the same time maintaining the symposium’s national reach.

The first symposium focused on the “Promise of Electronic Medical Records (EMR)” realizing that successful implementation is dependent upon a user-centric model providing the theme of “Person-Centric Electronic Health Systems” for our subsequent symposium. The discussions in 2005 brought to the surface awareness about the specific user-needs for electronic health systems, specifically Personal Health Records (PHR). Existing solutions and models are not necessarily enough to satisfy the needs of diverse communities. Therefore, innovation is a necessary element toward development of successful health systems used to support consumers, providers, payers, and others in the overall health care system.

Building on the framework set forth in the previous two years, Symposium 2006 will provide an interdisciplinary atmosphere exploring innovation throughout medical/health informatics and information systems domains. The program will be organized along three focus areas: Community Health Systems, investigating community and consumer health care strategies and how the standards that unite these systems can be integrated effectively; Electronic Disability Systems, focusing on how electronic disability records (EDR) can contribute to more efficient disability assessments and more effective delivery of clinical and non-clinical services for disabled consumers; and Research and Training Linkages, exploring the innovative connections that occur between research, training, and practice.

The objectives of the 2006 symposium are:

• To provide showcase innovations of e-health applications for communities and different consumers including disabled at the Pacific Edge,
• To present cutting-edge research and to explore research collaboration opportunities in the e-health domain,
• To understand the need for innovative training programs, which are essential to the effective and efficient use of e-health systems.

Anticipated Outcomes of this symposium are:

• Symposium 2006 will be the cornerstone piece for The Kay Center developing expertise in the end users of E Health technology; well, unwell and disabled.
• Regional Collaborations formed for Innovation in E-Health Research, Practice and Policy and to create interdisciplinary training programs to meet the urgent demands of e-health systems.
• Publication of papers submitted for the Kay-CGU Symposium 2006 in a Special Edition of E- Health Journal, Winter 2007.