Tara Kiran

Dr. Tara Kiran is the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto and Vice-Chair of Quality and Innovation at the Department of Family and Community Medicine. She practices family medicine at the St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team (SMHAFHT). Dr. Kiran investigates how changes in the health-care system impact the most vulnerable in society. In her research and practice, she develops and tests solutions to make health care more inclusive - and more effective.

Dr. Kiran completed her family medicine residency at McMaster University in 2004 and spent her first couple of years in practice as a locum in Indigenous communities in northern Ontario and in Community Health Centres in urban Toronto. She practiced at the Regent Park Community Health Centre from 2006 to 2010 before joining St. Michael's in 2011. 

Over the last decade, Dr. Kiran has led a program of research evaluating the impact of primary care reforms on quality in primary care in Ontario. She and her team have studied the impact of financial incentives on diabetes care and cancer screening, compared chronic disease prevention and management between various practice models, evaluated the impact of mandated after-hours provision on emergency department use, explored the association between the access bonus and healthcare use, and highlighted the quality gaps for patients left out of enrolment models. More recently, she is focusing her efforts on quality improvement research including initiatives to improve patient experience including access to care, increase cancer screening rates, treat Hepatitis C, reduce high-risk opioid prescribing, measure and reduce care disparities, and support physicians to learn from data.

In 2022, Dr. Kiran launched OurCare, a national, public engagement initiative to co-create the blueprint for a stronger, more equitable primary care system in Canada—a blueprint that can be used by government to inform and enact reforms, and by professional organizations and the public to advocate for change.

Dr. Kiran has held a number of local and provincial leadership roles. She led the quality improvement (QI) program at SMHAFHT between 2011 and 2018 and was chair of the SMHAFHT board of directors from 2014 to 2018. She was the Provincial Clinical Lead for the Ontario Diabetes Strategy from 2011-2012 and a Primary Care Advisor for the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network from 2012-2016.

Dr. Kiran is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, a Scientist in the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES.

Research Synopsis

My research has focused on evaluating the impact of Ontario's primary care reforms on quality of care. Some of my research has shown that the introduction of financial incentives for family doctors has had minimal to no impact on cancer screening and diabetes care. I strive to conduct all my research with a health equity lens to understand differences in health and health care for vulnerable population groups. My more recent work has highlighted that patients who are poor, new to Canada, or living in urban areas are more likely to be left behind from Ontario's medical home reforms.

Honours and Awards

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2016: Award for Research Excellence (New Investigator), Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto 

2015: New Investigator Research Award, North American Primary Care Research Group

2015: Outstanding Family Medicine Research Article Award, College of Family Physicians of Canada

2015: First Place, Outstanding Research Publication, Research Program, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto 

2013: CIHR Rising Star Award, Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research 

2010: Award of Excellence, College of Family Physicians of Canada

Grants

2016-2018: Kiran T (co-PI), Lofters A (co-PI), Baxter N et al. Co-designing screening invitations with patients to reduce income-related disparities in cancer screening. St. Michael’s Hospital Medical Services Association Innovation Funds.  $81,768.76

2016: Kiran T, Moineddin R, Kopp A, Frymire E, Glazier R. Impact of capitation and team-based care on health care utilization and cost: a retrospective cohort analysis. INSPIRE Primary Health Care Program Applied Health Research Question. $10,539. 

2015-2016: Kiran T (co-PI), Lofters A (co-PI), Pinto A, Persaud N, Baxter N. Reducing income-related disparities in colorectal cancer screening. Translational Innovation Fund. St. Michael’s Hospital.  $50,000.