Onil Bhattacharyya

Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya is the Frigon Blau Chair in Family Medicine Research at Women’s College Hospital and evaluation lead at the Centre for Digital Health Evaluation housed at the Institute for Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care, and associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto. At DFCM, he is also Virtual Care Lead of the EXploring Innovative TEchnologies in Family Medicine (EXITE) collaborative. He is national co-chair of the Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovation Network funded by CIHR and clinical lead for the Ontario network, Better Access to Care for Complex Needs (BeACCON). He was a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the Commonwealth Fund in New York City and a Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. Onil’s research adapts methods from the design and software industries to develop and evaluate digitally enhanced models of primary and integrated care.

Frigon-Blau Chair in Family Medicine Research, Women’s College Hospital
Associate Professor, Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Associate Professor, Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
Clinician Scientist, Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Degrees: 

McGill University BSc; University of Montreal MD; University of Toronto PhD

Affiliations: 

Member, Advisory Board - Centre for Health Market Innovation    
Member, Steering Committee - Canadian Diabetes Association    
Member, Research Executive - University of Toronto, Department of Family and Community Medicine    

Career highlights:

Takemi Fellow, International Health, Harvard School of Public Health
Career Scientist Award. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care 
Harkness Fellow, Health Care Policy and Practice, The Commonwealth Fund, New York, United States

Research Synopsis

I’m interested in models of care integration for people with complex medical and social needs. Given the uncertainty around effective practices in this area, I’m interested in the application of methods from the design and software industries to rapidly design, prototype and test user-centered services. I am studying how these methods like design thinking and lean startup complement quality improvement and knowledge translation to develop new models of care. Lastly, I study innovative health service delivery models from low and middle-income countries and their applicability to high-income settings.

Honours and Awards

2015 – 2016 Harkness Fellowship Award. The Commonwealth Fund. 190,000 USD. New York, United States

2013 – 2018 Frigon-Blau Chair in Innovation and Quality. Women College Hospital, Department of Family Medicine. 600,000 CAD. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2009 – 2011 Career Scientist Award. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. 185,000 CAD. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Grants

2013-2016: Bhattacharyya O, Ivers N, Hawker G, Pariser P. Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience: pragmatic cluster trial and economic evaluation of a system intervention to reduce unnecessary hospital visits. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. [Subgrant from INSPIRE Primary Health Care] $448,071 

2014-2015: Bhattacharyya O, Schull M, Wilson L, Levinson W. Building Bridges to Integrate Care (BRIDGES). Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Health Quality Branch. $2,000,000

2011- 2014: Bhattacharyya O, Schull M, Wilson L, Levinson W. Building Bridges to Integrate Care. (BRIDGES) Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. $5,400,000

2014-2015: Bhattacharyya O. Integrated Care: Analysis of the Center for Health Market Innovations Database. Results for Development Institute Inc. $17,955 USD

2014: Bhattacharyya O. Rapid Routes to Scale. International Centre for Social Franchising. $130,000

2012-2013: Bhattacharyya O. Innovations in Maternal and Child Care, Malaria and TB: Analysis of the Center for Health Market Innovations Database. Results for Development Institute Inc. $89,811 USD