Ian McKillop
Bio
Professor McKillop (PhD Waterloo, MASc Waterloo) began his academic career in the University of Waterloo’s School of Accountancy where his teaching responsibilities focused on financial systems. His interest in how these systems could be used to drive innovation in healthcare brought him to the burgeoning field of health informatics.
After spending a number of years at a leading business school, Ian returned to the University of Waterloo in 2004 as the JW Graham Chair in Health Information Systems. His joint appointment to the Public Health program and the David R Cheriton School of Computer Science provides a dynamic environment in which he explores innovative approaches to the use of information technology in the health sector.
Among his interests are finding novel ways to support the decision-making needs of clinical providers and healthcare managers, fostering effective IT management strategies, and addressing technical issues related to data quality and security.
Featured Work
As a specialist in financial systems, Ian is well versed in healthcare funding and financial decision-making processes. He was a co-lead for Ontario’s Hospital Report project – one of the largest, publicly-available, hospital performance enhancement projects in the world. He sits on national and provincial committees with mandates related to information systems and funding in Canada’s health system. Professor McKillop has lived and consulted internationally, and has contributed to the work of Commissions and Inquiries.
In addition to his professorial responsibilities, Ian helps coordinate the University of Waterloo’s health portfolio on behalf of the Office of Research. This senior administrative role allows him to appreciate the challenges faced by health professionals when they find themselves also tasked with corporate leadership responsibilities.