May 16, 2014
Fiona Clement wins prestigious Harkness Award
Established by The Commonwealth Fund in 1925, and modeled after the Rhodes Scholarships, the Harkness Fellowships aim to produce the next generation of health policy leaders in the nine participating countries -- Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Mid-career professionals are given the opportunity to spend a year in the United States to study healthcare delivery system reforms and critical issues on the health policy agenda in both the U.S. and Canada. CFHI has brought a Canadian perspective to the program since 2001 and, in 2012, began co-funding a full-time Canadian Harkness Fellowship.
Dr. Fiona Clement completed her PhD in Health Services Research with a specialization in Health Economics at theUniversity of Calgary. Additionally, she completed a Post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Newcastle (UK), supported by CFHI and Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions. Her research interests include Health Technology Assessment, methods to achieve optimal use of technology (Health Technology Reassessment) and drug policy including reimbursement decision-making processes and system cost-containment measures.
"I'm delighted to be given this unique opportunity to take part in a prestigious and important program," said Dr. Clement.
The Harkness Fellowship Award was announced at the CAHSPR (Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research) Conference in Toronto. In addition to a series of high level policy briefings and site visits organized in the U.S. throughout the year, the Fellows all take part in a four-day Canadian Harkness Policy Briefing Tour organized by CFHI, where Harkness Fellows gain a fuller understanding of how healthcare in Canada is organized, financed, managed and delivered.
The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating healthcare improvement by working with provinces, territories and other healthcare partners to promote efficient healthcare that delivers better outcomes. With a $10 million annual federal investment, CFHI supports the development of innovations that could save provincial-territorial healthcare budgets over $1 billion per year. CFHI is funded through an agreement with the Government of Canada.
The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that promotes a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy.