Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Active Staff
Division General Internal Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital
Scientific Advisor
Clinical Information Systems, Quality and Safety Measurement
Cross Appointment
Department of Medicine, Department Epidemiology & Community Medicine, University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Patient Safety
Health Services Research
Thromboses, Embolisms
Internal Medicine
APPOINTMENTS & Employment history
August 2007 - present
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa
December 2006 – present
Cross Appointment
Faculty of Graduate and Post-doctoral Studies (FGPS)
University of Ottawa
January 2006 – present
Medical Director
The Ottawa Hospital Center for Patient Safety
September 2004 -present
Scientific Advisor
Clinical Information Systems, Quality and Safety Measurement
The Ottawa Hospital
May 2004 - present
Cross Appointment
Department of Medicine, Department Epidemiology & Community Medicine, University of Ottawa
May 2004 - present
Scientist
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
September 2001 – present
Active Staff
Division General Internal Medicine, Ottawa Hospital
SHORT BIO
Dr. Alan J. Forster is a general internist and Co-Director of the Ottawa Hospital Center for Patient Safety. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and Scientist in the Clinical Epidemiology Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, where his research focuses on patient safety and quality improvement.
He has been the recipient of several prestigious awards recognizing his work within the field of health services research, including a Career Scientist Award with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and an Early Research Award from the Ontario Government's Ministry of Research and Innovation.
He has performed seminal work evaluating the incidence of adverse events following discharge from hospital. This work has lead to the development of strategies to improve care during the transition home from hospital. He is also leading in the development of a hospital data warehouse, which will serve as a supporting infrastructure for a research program in patient safety and quality of care. He has over 35 publications in peer review journals. He has attracted close to $2 million dollars in extra-mural grant funding over the last five years to support his research program.
In addition to his significant contributions to a quality and safety program at the Ottawa Hospital, he provides ongoing scientific advice regarding quality of care to provincial and national organizations, such as the Ontario Health Quality Council and the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Personal Awards and Salary Support
2006 Early Research Award
Ministry of Research and Innovation, $150,000
2005 Career Scientist Award
Ontario Ministry of Health
Health Research Development Program, $300,000
2004 PSI Award
Innovative Health Systems Research, $65,000
van WC;Dhalla IA;Bell C;Etchells E;Stiell IG;Zarnke K;Austin PC;Forster AJ;, (2010 Mar 1), Derivation and validation of an index to predict early death or unplanned readmission after discharge from hospital to the community, CMAJ, -> view abstract
Cwinn MA;Forster AJ;Cwinn AA;Hebert G;Calder L;Stiell IG;, (2009 Sep), Prevalence of information gaps for seniors transferred from nursing homes to the emergency department, CJEM, Vol.11, Issue 5, 462-471 -> view abstract
van Walraven C;Austin PC;Jennings A;Quan H;Forster AJ;, (2009 May 8), A Modification of the Elixhauser Comorbidity Measures Into a Point System for Hospital Death Using Administrative Data, Med Care, Vol.47, Issue 6, 626-633 -> view abstract
van Walraven C;Oake N;Coyle D;Taljaard M;Forster AJ;, (2009 Jun 20), Changes in surrogate outcomes can be translated into clinical outcomes using a Monte Carlo model, J Clin Epidemiol, Vol.62, Issue 12, 1306-1315 -> view abstract
Oake N;Jennings A;van Walraven C;Forster AJ;, (2009 Jun), Interactive voice response systems for improving delivery of ambulatory care, Am J Manag Care, Vol.15, Issue 6, 383-391 -> view abstract
Iyengar A;Baxter A;Forster AJ;, (2009 Jul 30), Using Medical Emergency Teams to detect preventable adverse events, Crit Care, Vol.13, Issue 4, R126 -> view abstract
Forster AJ;Boyle L;Shojania KG;Feasby TE;Walraven CV;, (2009 Jan 21), Identifying Patients with Post-discharge Care Problems Using an Interactive Voice Response System, J Gen Intern Med, Vol.24, Issue 4, 520-525 -> view abstract
van WC;Escobar GJ;Greene JD;Forster AJ;, (2009 Dec 9), The Kaiser Permanente inpatient risk adjustment methodology was valid in an external patient population, J Clin Epidemiol, -> view abstract
van WC;Austin PC;Jennings A;Forster AJ;, (2009 Aug 27), Correlation between serial tests made disease probability estimates erroneous, J Clin Epidemiol, Vol.62, Issue 12, 1301-1305 -> view abstract
Note: This is not a complete list of publications. More publications may be available in The Ottawa Hospital Library database and Pubmed (search by last name and initials).
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