Established in 1992, ICES is an independent not-for-profit research institute with an international reputation as a trusted, impartial, and credible source of high-quality health services research and evidence. ICES is made up of a highly accomplished community of research, data, clinical and health system experts who work through a network of seven sites across Ontario. Under Ontario law, ICES is named as a ‘prescribed entity’, and is permitted to hold and use a vast and secure array of Ontario’s health-related data.
The ICES Data Repository consists of record-level, coded and linkable health data sets. It encompasses much of the publicly funded administrative health services records for the Ontario population eligible for universal health coverage since 1986 and is capable of integrating research-specific data, registries and surveys. Currently, the repository includes health service records for as many as 13 million people. The ICES network of experts can access this rich repository of Ontario’s health-related data to generate high-quality and impactful evidence used to guide decision-making and inform changes in delivery of healthcare services and policy related to health.
ICES Western is one of the seven ICES sites. Through our site, researchers leverage the vast data repository at ICES. All ICES projects require the participation of an ICES scientist to oversee the conduct of the project in accordance with ICES policies and procedures. ICES scientists are independent researchers with a university academic appointment at the level of assistant professor or higher and have demonstrated experience using ICES data to conduct health services research. ICES Western has a growing community of ICES scientists across diverse programs of research.
ICES Western provides specialized services to support ICES scientist-initiated research using health-care administrative data. We also support requests from health care decision makers. Our team is comprised of highly qualified personnel with specialized training in health services research and we continue to recruit and train personnel to support the evolving needs of our research community. ICES Western operates using a cost-recovery model for research and data services. Our researchers have been very successful in securing grants involving ICES data from organizations such as CIHR, Heart and Stroke Foundation, AMOSO, Public Health Agency of Canada, and PSI Foundation.
Visit the ICES website for a list of all ICES Western publications.
ICES Western also offers the ICES Faculty Scholars Program, a training opportunity for researchers who wish to develop their skills in population health research. The program offers experiential training using the health administrative data at ICES.
Since its inception, the Faculty Scholars Program has trained more than 40 researchers from a variety of disciplines, including anaesthesia and perioperative medicine, clinical neurological sciences, epidemiology and biostatistics, family medicine, medicine, nursing, obstetrics and gynaecology, oncology, otolaryngology, paediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. Visit the ICES website to learn more.
