Founder and President of True North Consulting & Associates Inc., Thomas Hough has been serving in the field of Diagnostic Imaging for the past 19 years. In previous roles as PACS Product Manager for Cedara Software Inc. and PACS Marketing Manager for Kodak Canada Inc., Mr. Hough gained pragmatic experience in the development and implementation of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems). A forward thinker, he recognized the lack of consulting services amongst Canadian healthcare enterprises. Canadian hospitals, poised to spend millions of dollars on Diagnostic Imaging (DI), did not have an independent, third-party to guide them through the risks and challenges of PACS implementation. In response to this need, Mr. Hough founded True North Consulting and Associates Inc. (TNC). Thomas Hough developed a comprehensive due diligence process for the seek, procurement and implementation of PACS—a process designed to decrease the financial risks of purchasing DI equipment and ensure the productivity improvements from PACS are truly realized. He then assembled a consortium of quality thought leaders with clinical and commercial Diagnostic Imaging experience. Working together as a team, they entered the marketplace in January of 1998. As Founder, Mr. Hough continues to lead the company and is a true DI subject matter expert in: strategic planning, seek, procure and implementation of PACS, operational reviews, business case development and vendor negotiations. He has successfully led numerous multi-site hospitals and regions through the rigors of the seek, procurement and implementation process. For the past four years, Thomas Hough has been the Course Director and a Faculty Member of the Electronic Healthcare Enterprise (TEHE) educational events held in Toronto and Vancouver. Mr. Hough personally developed this series of educational seminars which have previously focused on Computed Radiography, Digital Radiography and PACS. Mr. Hough holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and is an active member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC). He received his professional designation as a Certified Management Consultant (C.M.C.) in 2004 and adheres to the CAMC code of conduct. David Kwan became a full associate consultant at True North Consulting in 2000 - bringing 22 years of Diagnostic Imaging experience. Mr. Kwan launched his career as a Magnetic Resonance and Nuclear Medicine Technologist in 1983. Subsequently, Mr. Kwan spent a number of years in a management capacity with a large Diagnostic Imaging department in Mississauga. He was also a commercial representative for Radiopharmaceutical and Nuclear Medicine vendors. Mr. Kwan is now a senior consultant with an in-depth understanding of Nuclear Medicine, DI equipment and PACS - as well as the daily workflow responsibilities and challenges of a DI department. His hands-on clinical experience has consistently proven to be an invaluable resource to Senior Management and Diagnostic Imaging Directors. As a true subject matter expert, Mr. Kwan is just one of the TNC associates who has led various multi-site healthcare enterprises through PACS seek, procure and implementation programs in recent years. He is adept in workflow analysis, strategic planning and business case development and has a history of transitioning traditional Diagnostic Imaging departments to highly productive paperless and filmless healthcare enterprises Mr. Kwan holds a Bachelor of Science with a Specialist’s Degree in Biology from the University of Toronto. Harold Wodlinger joined True North Consulting & Associates Inc. just three years ago, but has been actively involved in medical Imaging since 1978. He is a reliable subject matter expert in the field of Cardiology and has a thorough understanding of the challenges healthcare providers face when providing cardiac related services to their patients. Mr. Wodlinger has extensive experience in Cardiology needs assessment, business case development and strategic planning. These skills are especially useful to those healthcare enterprises entering into technological implementations and change management within Cardiology. Mr. Wodlinger is proficient in the evaluation of numerous Cardiology Imaging systems including CardioPACS and has a proven ability to coordinate initiatives between numerous groups of stakeholders and find concurrence amongst multiple different agendas. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Science and a Master’s and Doctoral Degree of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto. A graduate of Queens University, Deborah Keep has spent the last decade in the field of medical imaging. She is a trained professional in strategy development and execution. In her former role as the Business Development Manager for GE, Ms. Keep dedicated her professional life to DI research and analysis. In addition, she was responsible for preparing federal and provincial grants, as well as providing strategic advice to those she served in the medical community. Ms. Keep was key to the startup and management of the Imaging Research Business Office (budget of $160 million) at the ORDCH and CFI research grants at Sunnybrook and the Women’s College Health Sciences Centre. Deborah Keep has extensive experience liaising with senior level administrators - thus positioning her to skilfully lead healthcare enterprises in the development and execution of DI strategy. As a senior consultant for True North Consulting and Associates Inc. since 2001, Ms. Keep holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Dr. Alan Monavvari is a trained neurosurgeon and a proven thought leader in business process change management, project management, system development, strategic planning, process improvement and business engineering. Dr. Monavvari holds two Master’s Degrees—the first in Epidemiology and the second in Health Administration. A valued member of the True North Consulting team since July 2005, Dr. Monavvari is an experienced consultant having been actively involved in hundreds of projects to change business operations, patient care, information management, clinical pathways, quality and risk management. Alan Monavvari M.D. is an unparalleled subject matter expert in medical staff change management initiatives and a respected medical consultant to hospital advisory boards. He is a trusted advocate to community health enterprises, health ministries, regional health authorities and Cancer Care Ontario.