Infection control in Canadian hospitals has reached a critical point.

Outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infectious disease in hospitals are more common and less well-controlled than Canadians think. In the last five years, 2000 people have died in Quebec from Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). Throughout Canada there are 8000 deaths per year directly attributed to diseases caught while in hospital. That’s equivalent to the combined number of deaths caused by traffic accidents and breast cancer.

Responding to this emerging threat, Infonaut and our longtime collaborator the Sault Ste Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) are developing an intelligent hospital infection control application, one that will put actionable information in the hands of those managing this crisis.

This is especially timely as recent outbreaks of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) in Ontario hospitals are drawing public, and government, attention to this serious health and safety issue. So much so that, during his term as Ontario Minister of Health, George Smitherman made reporting on outbreaks of C. difficile mandatory by September 30th of this year.

But back in 2006, Infonaut’s partner SSMIC had already begun addressing this problem. Following on an outbreak at the Sault Area Hospital (SAH), SSMIC completed a case study showing the efficacy of GIS in dealing with hospital infections, specifically demonstrated on “superbug” diseases such as C. difficile.

Infonaut and SSMIC are now working to translate this proof-of-concept project into a full-fledged GIS solution — designed to help decision makers address this too often overlooked gap in health system safety.

Our Hospital Intelligent Tracking leverages radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and geomatics software, mapping hospitals in three dimensions and computing spatial relationships such as distance, connectivity and directional relationships between entities. This allows for the visualization of raw data and spatial analytic results within a 3D hospital map: leading to more efficient and accurate response strategies, targeting the specific hospital equipment, patients, and staff involved in and affected by an outbreak.

Contact us for more information on Hospital Intelligent Tracking.

Infonaut is pleased to announce the addition of Hugh Williams to our team as Vice-President of Business Development.

Hugh is joining Infonaut from ESRI Canada, where he played an instrumental role in pioneering their health business as the first account manager dedicated to health and human services.

Having successfully built up ESRI’s local and national accounts, Hugh is known throughout the health GIS community and will connect Infonaut’s expertise and services to this network, taking our company to the next level.

Much of Hugh’s early work at ESRI involved developing the go-to-market strategy and the supporting collateral: building awareness for the value of GIS systems and intelligence to the many aspects of the healthcare market. He has hosted annual “GIS in Health Executive Forums”; developed the Hospital Watch Live concept for the use of GIS within healthcare; and created a training program for health clients new to GIS.

Hugh also brings a wealth of national and international information management experience to Infonaut, having worked on capacity building and food/ health security projects for clients in Canada, and with the United Nations. In his role with Dynamic Planet, Hugh created and published several atlases including the World Health Atlas, and the Africa AIDS Atlas in 2006. Hugh also worked in the Ontario provincial government for over 15 years in a variety of roles.

Hugh is the father of four children, and active in his community. He is on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Etobicoke, and for “CameronHelps” a non-profit community organization.

With Infonaut, Hugh will be running our day-to-day strategic direction and marketing plans, as well as helping us pursue many of our business development opportunities. Hugh’s “Bring Data to Life” approach will fit in perfectly at Infonaut. If there’s an opportunity for collaboration you’d like to discuss with Infonaut, please contact Hugh directly at 416-738-9583, or by email at hwilliams@infonaut.ca.

If you’ve visited our site in the last few days (and why wouldn’t you have), you may have noticed that Infonaut.ca has a new look. We’ve taken our classic content, added new components and ported it all over to a sleeker, updated interface.

This latest version of our website maintains and refreshes popular features like the Infonaut Blog, as well as improving our lines of communication to you, via our News area.

Take a look at our new Software page, which gives an at-a-glance view of our applications, and how they can help you. Visit Services and browse an overview of our in-house expertise: in GIS, and in our capacity as health system experts.

If there’s something you need, in GIS, in health, or in both, but you don’t see it listed in our Software or Services, just ask. We’d like to talk to you about it.

The newest and littlest Infonaut addition: we’re pleased to welcome baby Daphne June McPherson to the extended Infonaut team.

Weighing in at 6lbs 6oz, featherweight Daphne was born Thursday June 12th at 2:15pm. The proud parents, Infonaut COO Matthew McPherson and his wife Deb McCain, as well as her big sister Davis, are thrilled to meet this beautiful addition to their family.