We've Only Just Begun - Insights from a 25-Year Journey to Accelerate Health Care Transformation Through Delivery System Research.

Sarah M Greene,Andrew F Nelson,Paul Wallace

doi:10.5334/egems.310

Sarah M Greene, Andrew F Nelson + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5334/egems.310

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Abstract

Even though it is well known that quality, safety, and patient-centeredness of health care can be improved, leveraging the organizational apparatus of a care delivery environment to render improvement in a consistent and comprehensive manner has proven difficult. The Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), which began as the HMO Research Network, emerged from a desire to improve health and study problems in health care in a systematic and collaborative way, spurring the delivery of true evidence-informed medicine. The HCSRN has honed network-wide data resources, a collaborative culture, and shared infrastructure, enabling multicenter health care research that is often more difficult for researchers working in less integrated settings and across organizational boundaries. The HCSRN’s 25-year track record confers both an opportunity and obligation to share what we have learned through our research. Considering the quarter-century since the HCSRN was established, we describe three evolving areas—health data, new health care models, and diversified research teams that must be thoughtfully harnessed to realize a transformed health care ecosystem that generates and learns with research.

Highlights

Optimizing evidence-informed care in a fragmented health care system is an enduring challenge, as landmark reports from the National Academy of Medicine recognized in “To Err Is Human” and “Crossing the Quality Chasm” [1, 2]
Even though it is well known that quality, safety, and patient-centeredness can be improved, leveraging the organizational apparatus in a health care environment to render improvement in a consistent and comprehensive manner has proven difficult
The Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), which began as the HMO Research Network, emerged from a desire to improve health and study problems in health care in a systematic and collaborative way [5], spurring the delivery of true evidence-informed medicine

Summary

Introduction

Optimizing evidence-informed care in a fragmented health care system is an enduring challenge, as landmark reports from the National Academy of Medicine recognized in “To Err Is Human” and “Crossing the Quality Chasm” [1, 2]. The HCSRN, which began as the HMO Research Network, emerged from a desire to improve health and study problems in health care in a systematic and collaborative way [5], spurring the delivery of true evidence-informed medicine. Inspired by the application of systems thinking to create learning organizations [6], the HCSRN has honed network-wide data resources, collaborative culture, and shared infrastructure.

Results

Conclusion