Health Implementation Science Center

We’re celebrating another year of impactful collaboration! Since our start in 2020, we have worked on projects to advance high-quality, patient-centered, and equitable health care. Our intellectual pillars – #ImplementationScience, #Informatics, and #PCOR – serve as the guiding force behind three years of transformative initiatives at the Health Implementation Science Center. In 2023, we engaged an expansive group of over 30 experts to conduct patient-focused #research and worked closely with clients among the country’s most forward-thinking organizations to drive innovation in health care delivery. Read more about our work here: https://ow.ly/uisU50QjJrc

A recent congressional report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reveals that in 2017, one in three patients who died in hospitals succumbed to sepsis.      The latest NORC Now newsletter discusses our work on AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). This collaborative effort enables researchers to uncover crucial health care insights, contributing to the broader goal of improving patient care and outcomes.  

Join NORC this year at the 2024 MCBK Global Meeting on Oct 22-23rd to learn about findings from two CDSiC products. Sofia Ryan, MSPH will present a lightening talk on the “Use of AI to Scale PC CDS”. She will discuss how AI is currently being used to scale patient centered clinical decision support (#PCCDS), outline key considerations and opportunities for advancing the use of AI to scale #PCCDS based on findings from a landscape assessment conducted by the Clinical Decision Support Innovation Collaborative (#CDSiC). Additional authors include: Kensaku Kawamoto, MD, PhD, MHS, FACMI, FAMIA, Krysta Heaney-Huls, MPH, Andrew B. Chiao, David Lobach, Priyanka Desai, PhD, Prashila Dullabh, MD, FAMIA, IAHSI, and the CDSiC Implementation, Adoption, and Scaling Workgroup. Kiran Correa will present “Prioritizing Patient Preferences for Standardization”. She will discuss identified patient preference concepts best suited to standardization based on findings from a #CDSiC virtual roundtable that included perspectives from patient representatives, EHR developers, informaticians, researchers, standards developers, and clinicians. Other authors include: Desirae Leaphart Mensah, Rachel Richesson, Azam Ahmed, Aziz Boxwala, Priyanka Desai, PhD, Prashila Dullabh, MD, FAMIA, IAHSI, and the CDSiC Standards and Regulatory Frameworks Workgroup. Register here to attend virtually: https://lnkd.in/eieiGVT8

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has just released a new toolkit that will help ICUs and Non-ICUs tackle complex MRSA prevention problems. The Toolkit for MRSA Prevention in ICU & Non-ICU Settings is designed to equip healthcare professionals with essential knowledge, resources, and tools to prevent MRSA infection. The included tools provide information on: Decolonization, MRSA Surveillance, Contact Precautions, setting up and improving programs to monitor Hand Hygiene and Environmental Cleaning, and much, much more. This is the first of three planned toolkits being developed in the AHRQ Safety Program for MRSA Prevention, with a second toolkit focused on high-risk surgical services planned for spring 2025, and a third toolkit focused on long-term care settings anticipated in fall 2025. Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/eKkTt8ZK).

A new article in the National Patient Advocate Foundation’s 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 blog about ongoing work to help patients, caregivers, and care teams have the right information at the right time to make knowledgeable decisions that can improve their health and well-being. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://ow.ly/z7ut50TCQ2L #CDSiC #PCCDS #NPAF

Throughout its five years of implementation, SPARC has identified five key lessons learned to best support hospitals across the state in quality improvement activities related to infection control and antibiotic stewardship. Join Dr. Leigh Smith at APHA on October 29th to learn more about the collaborative: https://lnkd.in/ezK_BzGq. Authors include: Leigh Smith, Desirae Leaphart Mensah, Sofia Ryan, MSPH, Surbhi Leekha, Andrew B. Chiao, Karen Coffey, Rebecca Perlmutter, Clare Rock, Priyanka Desai, PhD, Melanie Curless, Lauren Squires, Jamie Rubin, Prashila Dullabh, MD, FAMIA, IAHSI

Patient-centered clinical decision support (#PCCDS) is a specific kind of clinical decision support that considers a patient’s needs, values, and preferences. A new article in the National Patient Advocate Foundation’s blog about ongoing work to help patients, caregivers, and care teams have the right information at the right time to make knowledgeable decisions that can improve their health and well-being. Patient advocate authors Deborah Collyar, Angela Dobes, Kistein Monkhouse, MPA and Tiffany Peterson highlight work from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Clinical Decision Support Innovation Collaborative (#CDSiC) focusing on three key areas to advancing #PCCDS: trust, co-design, and making sure tools fit into patients’ lives to offer more value. Read the full article, “Improving Patient-Centered Care with Decision Tools that Build Trust,” here: https://lnkd.in/ec9NUgv6 #CDSiC #PCCDS AcademyHealth Rina Dhopeshwarkar

A new issue brief identifies current evidence and best practices to inform patient-centered implementation of test result delivery though #patient portals under the 21st Century Cures Act. The Act removed most restrictions to patients' access of their electronic health information. Healthcare organizations now routinely make test results available within patient portals when results are finalized. Information was solicited through a scoping review, along with a series of brief qualitative interviews with subject matter experts. Access the issue brief now. https://lnkd.in/gUBAUnk4

We are thrilled to share that our #digitalhealth research on patient-centered clinical decision support (#PCCDS) has been published by the #AHRQ Digital Healthcare Research Program. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/ejgQkB-h to learn more about how our AHRQ-funded work has helped inform the future of #PCCDS research. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, NORC at the University of Chicago, Prashila Dullabh, MD, FAMIA, IAHSI    

This new article by HISC team member Rachel Kurtzman features accessibility outcomes findings from 64 NCI Cancer Center survivorship-focused websites. Readability, alternative text descriptors, and font were among accessibility outcomes evaluated. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/ehbGFSkH