Transforming referralals: eReferral Ontario, Central Intake and Standardized Referral Forms (SRFs)

David Urbach, MD

Dr. David Urbach, MD MSc is Head of the Department of Surgery and Director of Perioperative Services at Women’s College Hospital, and Professor of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at The University of Toronto. In addition to being a practicing general surgeon, he is a Senior Fellow at the Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), and Senior Scientist at the Women’s College Hospital Research Institute and ICES. Through his leadership, the Department of Surgery at Women’s College Hospital has become recognized for surgical service innovations such as same-day discharge for total joint replacement and other major surgery, virtual post-operative monitoring, and single-entry referral models for surgical services. In his role at Ontario Health, David provides leadership and guidance for the implementation of central intake to improve access and reduce wait times for health services. His research focuses on surgery-related health services and is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). David is especially interested in improving health policy related to surgical services in Canada, particularly access to care and the sustainability and cost of surgery in Canadian hospitals. He has written over 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including in top journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, and has lectured around the world.

Steve Pomedli, MD

Dr Steve Pomedli is a family doctor in Toronto and the Provincial Clinical Lead for eReferral at Ontario Health. His previous roles include Digital Navigation Physician Lead for the East Toronto Family Practice Network, Health Innovation Fellow at WIHV (Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care), and as a consultant for health systems and digital health companies.

Nala Sriharan, Registered Nurse

Nala Sriharan is a Registered Nurse and accomplished healthcare leader with more than 25 years of experience in diverse clinical practice and health system planning. Over the past 15 years, she has led the development, implementation, and optimization of coordinated access models and enabling technologies across diabetes, orthopedics, mental health, and addiction services at both regional and provincial levels. Since 2023, she has served as the Provincial Clinical Lead for Coordinated Access at the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence , Ontario Health, where she has provided strategic and clinical leadership to develop the provincial vision, model, and implementation of the Mental Health & Addictions Provincial Coordinated Access (MHA PCA) initiative. She is currently the Director of Coordinated Access at CAMH. Nala obtained her Bachelor of Nursing from McMaster University and is completing her MBA at Edinburgh Napier University.

Erin Keely, MD, Endocrinologist

Dr. Erin Keely is an Endocrinologist at the Ottawa Hospital and Full Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Her research has focused on communication between primary care providers and specialists. She is the Co-Founder of the Champlain BASE eConsult Service and is Executive Director of the Ontario eConsult Centre of Excellence. She is a Clinical Lead with the Ontario Health Patients Before Paperwork Program, championing the development, implementation and evaluation of standardized eReferral forms.

Cynthia MacWilliam

Cynthia has been Executive Director, Client Services and Engagement of OntarioMD (OMD) since 2017. In this capacity, Cynthia leads OMD’s field team members and OMD Peer Leaders in their ongoing and varied supports to community-based physician practices. 

She has over 25 years of experience working in health care and with physicians specifically on how to maximize use of digital health tools within their practice for the collective benefit of provider and patient.