Integrated Community Program

Administrative Assistant: Paola Tiveron
Phone: 416-480-4037
Email: paola.tiveron@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• MD, 1994, Western University, Canada
• FRCP, 1999, emergency medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• DipSM, 2000, Canadian Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Canada
• dABEM, 2000, American Board of Emergency Medicine, U.S.
• FACEM, 2008, Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Australia
• Diploma of mountain medicine, 2012, University of Leicester, U.K.
• M.Sc., 2013, mountain medicine, University of Leicester, U.K.
• PhD, 2016, health policy, Karolinska Institutet Sodersjukhuset, Sweden
• Postdoctoral fellowship (health system impact fellow), 2019, U of T Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Health Services and Policy Research Alliance, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Associate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Integrated Community Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Emergency physician, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Assistant professor, University of Toronto
• Director of research and scholarly activity, emergency department, Sunnybrook
• Patient flow lead, emergency medicine, Sunnybrook
• Affiliate of Monash University, epidemiology and preventative medicine, public health and preventative medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• Clinical support for the Canadian Institute for Health Information case mix and analytic techniques and tools departments, Canadian Institute of Health Information
• Postdoctoral fellow, health services research, School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

Research Foci:

• Emergency department crowding
• High-frequency emergency department users
• Integrated care for the elderly frail and patients with palliative needs
• Health services research

Research Summary:

The focus of Dr. Cheng’s research is emergency department (ED) crowding, specifically factors, interventions and evaluation related to ED crowding. Her research approach uses mixed methods: quantitative analyses (i.e., logistic regression and pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trials), economy analyses, case costing and quality improvement, with growing interest in implementation science. She has adopted the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute for Health Policy and System Research’s training modernization program of embedded research, interprofessional teams and learning health systems. This approach works well with the province’s and hospital’s strategy for integrated care.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Cheng I, Zwarenstein M, Kiss A, Castren M, Brommels M, Schull M. Factors associated with failure of emergency wait-time targets for high acuity discharge and intensive care unit admissions. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2018 Jan;20(1):112–124.
2. Cheng I. Doctoral thesis: Emergency department crowding and hospital patient flow: influential factors and evidence-informed solutions. Stockholm (Sweden): Karolinska Institutet; 2016. 69 p. Available from: https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/45227.
3. Cheng I, Castren M, Brommels M, Kiss A, Mittmann N. Cost effectiveness of a physician-nurse supplementary triage assessment team (MDRNSTAT) at an academic tertiary care emergency department. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2016 May;18(3):191–204. Epub 2015 Sep 4.
4. Koehle M, Cheng I, Sporer B. Canadian academy of sports and exercise medicine position statement: athletes at high altitude. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014 Mar;24(2):120–127.
5. Cheng I, Lee J, Mittmann N, Tyberg J, Ramagnano S, Kiss A, Schull M, Kerr F, Zwarenstein M. Implementing wait-time reductions under Ontario government benchmarks (pay-for-results): a cluster randomized trial of the effect of a physician-nurse supplementary triage assistance team (MDRNSTAT) on emergency department patient wait times. BMC Emergency Medicine. 2013 Nov 11;13:17.

Related News and Stories:

• National fellowship program delivers on training modernization (Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto News, November 20, 2019)