Improvement

Local Involvement Networks explained
The Department of Health has published this document which explains about Local Involvement Networks (LINks), which are being introduced into the NHS to help strengthen the system that enables communities to influence the care they receive. Click here to read more.

Patient Safety

Operating room managerial decision-making on the day of surgery with and without computer recommendations and status displays
F Dexter, A Willemsen-Dunlap, JD Lee
Anesthesia and Analgesia, 2007, 105(2), pp419-429

A psychological basis for anesthesiologists’ operating room managerial decision-making on the day of surgery
F Dexter, JD Lee, AJ Dow, DA Lubarsky
Anesthesia and Analgesia, 2007, 105(2), pp430-434

Evidence Based Practice

Adding “value” to clinical practice guidelines
JP McCormack, P Loewen
Canadian Family Physician, 2007, 53(8), pp1326-1327
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Guidelines in context of evidence
E Ketola
Quality and Safety in Health Care, 2007, 16(4), pp308-312

Translating clinicians' beliefs into implementation interventions (TRACII): a protocol for an intervention modeling experiment to change clinicians' intentions to implement evidence-based practice
MP Eccles, M Johnston, S Hrisos, J Francis, J Grimshaw, N Steen, EF Kaner
Implementation Science 2007, 2:27
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Innovation

Exploring technological innovation in health systems
G Prada, P Santaguida
The Conference Board of Canada, 2007, August (68 pages)
Full text – registration required, although this is free.

The role of knowledge management in innovation
MD Plessis
Journal of Knowledge Management, 2007, 11(4), pp20-29
Delayed for 1 year
NHS Athens password required

Knowledge Management

Let’s get natural: the discourse of community and the problem of transferring practices in knowledge management
A Bhalla, J Lampel
Management Decision, 2007, 45(7), pp1069-1082
Delayed for a year
NHS Athens password required

Organizational structure features supporting knowledge management processes
E Claver-Cortes, P Zaragoza-Saez, E Pertusa-Ortega
Journal of Knowledge Management, 2007, 11(4), pp45-57
Delayed for 1 year
NHS Athens password required

Promoting people-focused knowledge management: the case of IDOM
N Aramburu, J Saenz
Journal of Knowledge Management, 2007, 11(4), pp72-81
Delayed for 1 year
NHS Athens password required

Knowledge management among the older workforce
F Slagter
Journal of Knowledge Management, 2007, 11(4), pp82-96
Delayed for 1 year
NHS Athens password required

Creating communities of practices to manage technological knowledge: an evaluation study at Rolls-Royce
B Meeuwesen, H Berends
European Journal of Innovation Management, 2007, 10(3), pp333-347

Information Seeking Behaviour

Literature searching: waste of time or essential skill?
A Gomersall
Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, 2007, 3(2), pp301-308
The publisher, Policy Press, are currently offering a free trial via Ingenta.

Patient Safety

Patient safety: helping medical students understand error in healthcare
R Patey
Quality and Safety in Health Care, 2007, 16(4), pp256-259

Patient safety culture in primary care: developing a theoretical framework for practical use
S Kirk
Quality and Safety in Health Care, 2007, 16(4), pp313-320

Information from the Internet and the doctor-patient relationship: the patient perspective - a qualitative study
FA Stevenson, C Kerr, E Murray, I Nazareth
BMC Family Practice, 2007, 8:47
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Surviving surrogate decision-making: what helps and hampers the experience of making medical decisions for others
E Vig, H Starks, J Taylor, E Hopley, K Fryer-Edwards
Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2007, 22(9), pp1274-1279
Delayed for 1 year

Public Health

Health inequalities, physician citizens and professional medical associations: An Australian case study
JS Furler, E Harris, MF Harris, L Naccarella, D Young, T Snowdon
BMC Medicine 2007, 5:23
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Research

Systematic reviews: time to address clinical and policy relevance as well as methodological rigor
A Laupacis, S Straus
Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007, 147(4), pp273-274
Full text

How quickly do systematic reviews go out of date? A survival analysis
KG Shojania, M Sampson, MT Ansari, J Ji, S Doucette, D Moher
Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007, 147(4), pp224-233
Full text

Improvement

Framework for system-level strategic improvement
System-level change requires three essential elements:
o The will to improve;
o Ideas about alternatives to the current state;
o The ability to execute change.
A new white paper from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement lays out a framework for making this happen. Click here for more.

Link between health information technology and quality improvement
This report, from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and co-authored by members of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, looks at the link between health information technology and quality improvement in primary care. The bottom line is that adoption of health IT “must go hand-in-hand with a robust care model and routine use of quality improvement methods. Click here for more.

NICE: Into practice – newsletter for implementers
Into practice is an electronic bulletin aimed at those responsible for implementing guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). It includes details of the latest implementation tools and other news from NICE’s implementation directorate. Click here for more.

Education

E-learning in the NHS
NHS Connecting for Health has developed a standard to bring a degree of consistency in to the approaches taken and levels of quality to e-learning projects and products.
Download the standard
Download the Elearning Toolkit to support this
Download an accessibility specification template
Download a detailed design document template
Download an outline design and functional specification template
Download a technical specification template
Download a sample elearning value analysis document

From workplace learning to inter-organizational learning and back: the contribution of activity theory
M Engestro, A Yrjo, H Kerosuo
Journal of Workplace Learning, 2007, 19(6), pp336-342

Inter-organizational learning across levels: an object-oriented approach
H Toiviainen
Journal of Workplace Learning, 2007, 19(6), pp343-358

E-learning in a large organization: a study of the critical role of information sharing
G Netteland, B Wasson, R Mo, I Anders
Journal of Workplace Learning, 2007, 19(6), pp392-411

Expanding primary care-based medical education: a renaissance of general practice
MB Van Der Weyden
Medical Journal of Australia, 2007, 187(2), pp66-67
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Vertical integration in teaching and learning (VITAL): an approach to medical education in general practice
MLB Dick, DB King, GK Mitchel, GD Kely, JF Buckley, SJ Garside
Medical Journal of Australia, 2007, 187(2), pp133-135
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Leading and managing professional development – improving patient care
J Magill-Cuerden
Journal of Nursing Management, 2007, 15(6), pp563-566

Helping or hindering: the role of nurse managers in the transfer of practice development learning
K Currie, D Tolson, J Booth
Journal of Nursing Management, 2007, 15(6), pp585-594

Using webcasts for continuing education in nursing
JM Phillips, DM Billings
Journal of Continued Education in Nursing, 2007, 38(4), pp152-153

Tips for facilitated learning
BC Di Leonardi
Journal of Continued Education in Nursing, 2007, 38(4), pp154-161

Evidence Based Practice

Increased access to evidence-based primary mental health care: will the implementation match the rhetoric?
IB Hickie, PD McGorry
Medical Journal of Australia, 2007, 187(2), pp100-103
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Evidence-based decision making on micronutrients and chronic disease: long-term randomized controlled trials are not enough
BN Ames
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007, 86(2), pp522-523

Improving patient care by linking evidence-based medicine and evidence-based management
SM Shortell
Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007, 298(6), pp673-676

Towards evidence-based policy making and standardized assessment of health policy reform
JF Wharam
Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007, 298(6), pp676-679

Human Resources

Getting staff to adopt new ideas is a major challenge
H Bevan
Health Service Journal, 2007, 6066, pp30-31

Improvement

A good idea wrongly introduced
JW Robins
eBMJ, 2007, 335(7613), pp222-222

Learn the lessons of the past
EL Lloyd
eBMJ, 2007, 335(7613), pp222-222

Managing and leading the infection prevention initiative
C Pellowe
Journal of Nursing Management, 2007, 15(6), pp567-573

Information Seeking Behaviour

Decisions to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by male cancer patients: information seeking roles and types of evidence used
M Evans, A Shaw, EA Thompson, S Falk, P Turton, T Thompson, D Sharp
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2007, 7(25)
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Management

How commitment and involvement influence the development of strategic consensus in health care organizations: the multidisciplinary approach
M Carney
Journal of Nursing Management, 2007, 15(6), pp649-658

From quality management to socially responsible organizations: the case for CSR
SA Hazlett, R McAdam, L Murray
International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 2007, 24(7), pp669-682

Corporate governance as a critical element for driving excellence in corporate social responsibility
A Shahin, M Zairi
International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 2007, 24(7), pp753-770

Patient Safety

Improving blood safety worldwide
The Lancet, 370 (9585), pp361
Embargo: 60 days

A medication safety education program to reduce the risk of harm caused by medication errors
RD Dennison
Journal of Continued Education in Nursing, 2007, 38(4), pp176-184

Bringing patient safety to the heart of care
Health Service Journal, 2007, 6066, pp22-29

Research

The regression effect as a neglected source of bias in nonrandomized intervention trials and systematic reviews of observational studies
DL Weeks
Evaluation and the Health Professions, 30(3), pp254-265

Behavioural factors, bias, and practice guidelines in the decision to use percutaneous coronary interventions for stable coronary artery disease
M Moscucci
Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007, 167(15), pp1573-1575

Institutional review boards should require clinical trial registration
LA Levin, J Gage Palmer
Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007, 167(15), pp1576-1580

Evidence Based Practice

Reduction of inequalities in health: assessing evidence-based tools
P Tugwell, A O’Connor, N Andersson, S Mhatre, E Kristjansson, MJ Jacobsen, V Robinson, J Hatcher-Roberts, B Shea, D Francis, J Beardmore, GA Wells, J Losos
International Journal for Equity in Health, 2006, 5, pp11
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Impact of introducing multiple evidence-based clinical practice protocols in a medical intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study
B Afessa, O Gajic, MT Keegan, EG Seferian, RD Hubmary, SG Peters
BMC Emergency Medicine, 2007, 7(10)
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Applying psychological theories to evidence-based clinical practice: identifying factors predictive of managing upper respiratory tract infections without antibiotics
MP Eccles, JM Grimshaw, M Johnston, N Steen, NB Pitts, R Thomas, E Glidewell, G MacLennan, D Bonetti, A Walker
Implementation Science, 2007, 2(26)
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Economics

The use of the Transition cost accounting system in health services research
A Azoulay, NM Doris, KB Filion, J Caron, L Pilote, MJ Eisenberg
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2007, 5(11)
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Improvement

The Tension between Needing to Improve Care and Knowing How to Do It
AD Auerbach et al
New England Journal of Medicine, 2007, 357(6), pp608-613

Education

Teaching, learning, social software, and evidence based health care
For the Evidence Based Health Care Conference in Sicily in November they are planning to have discussion groups on 7 themes:
1. e-learning
2. Assessment tools
3. Best Teaching Methods
4. Evidence-Based Diagnosis
5. EBP Curriculum
6. Change management
7. Tools for Teaching

There is no fixed "output" for each theme, but a joint paper, a website or wiki, or simply group learning may result. Whether or not you are going to the conference we would like you to join in. So each week the organizers will open up one of the theme areas for discussion and planning, (and then summarise and move to the conference blog. Janet Harris will start the first discussion next week on Assessment Tools.

The process of evidence-based medicine and the search for meaning
R Biswas, S Umakanth, J Strumberg, CM. Martin, M Hande, JS. Nagra
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2007, 13(4), pp529–532

Economics

Pay for Performance, Version 2.0?
TH Lee
New England Journal of Medicine, 2007, 357(6), pp531-533

Evidence Based Practice

The CONSORT Statement
The CONSORT Statement is an evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting randomized controlled trials. It offers a standard way for authors to prepare reports of trial findings, facilitating their complete and transparent reporting, and aiding their critical appraisal and interpretation.

Funded by the UK National Coordinating Centre for Research and Methodology, the new CONSORT website enhances its capability to keep up with the growing complexity and increasing impact of the CONSORT Statement.

Some highlights of the site:
· The definitive version of the CONSORT Statement
· The CONSORT checklist: examples and explanation of each item
· Translations of the CONSORT Statement into ten languages
· Extensions to the main CONSORT Statement for different trial designs,
· interventions and data types
· Browsable bibliographies of the evidence underpinning CONSORT
· History and impact of CONSORT
· News articles on the developments of CONSORT
· A full glossary of terms
· A simple yet powerful search facility

Click here for more.

Public Health

Public Health Review Group
The Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field is intending to register as a Public Health Review Group, potentially within the Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration. The aim is to review the effects of public health interventions, with a focus on upstream interventions. To take this forward, two meetings are being planned:

1. The first meeting will coincide with the Meeting of the Society for Social Medicine & the International Epidemiological Association (European Federation) on 13th September 2007, between 1pm and 5pm at University College, Cork, Ireland. A flyer and agenda for the meeting in Cork is available here.
2. The second meeting is planned to coincide with Forum 11 of the Global Forum for Health Research, on 29th October 2007, between 10am and 2pm at the Jiuhua Resort and Convention Center, in Beijing, China.

If you are unable to attend either of these meetings, and wish to make comment on the proposal for registration, please email Jodie Doyle.

Patient Safety

Drug Safety Update
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is an executive agency of the Department of Health. Click here to read the monthly electronic bulletin for health professionals on current issues relating to drug safety.

Knowledge Management

Creating a conversation: insights from the development of a decision aid
VM Montori, M Breslin, M Maleska, AJ Weymiller
PLoS Medicine, 2007, 4(8), e233
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Evidence Based Practice

How evidence-based are the recommendations in evidence-based guidelines?
FA McAlister, S van Diepen, RS Padwal, JA Johnson, SR Majumdar
PLoS Medicine, 2007, 4(8), e250
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Commissioning

Payment by Results in 2008-09
The Department of Health has published this update on work to prepare the tariff for 2008-09. Click here to read more.

Payment by Results: stroke and transient ischaemic attack services
The Department of Health has produced this best practice guide, explaining payment by results for people involved in the provision and commissioning of stroke and transient ischaemic attach services. Click here to read more.

Technology

Evidence in the palm of your hand: development of an outcomes-focused knowledge translation intervention
DM Doran, J Mylopoulos, A Kushniruk, L Nagle, B Laurie-Shaw, S Sidani, AE Tourangeau, N Lefebre, C Reid-Haughian, JR Carryer, LA Cranley, G McArthur
Worldviews On Evidence-Based Nursing, 2007, 4(2), pp69-77

Research

Systematic reviews don’t last for ever
eBMJ, 2007, 335(7612), pp178

Model for a single ethical and scientific review of multicentre research in New South Wales
HE Fraser, AE Martlew, DJ Frew
Medical Journal of Australia, 2007, 187(1), pp7-9
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Public Health

We are all public health
KM Alpi
Journal of the Medical Library Association, 2007, 95(3), pp229-231
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Introduction: public health information outreach
KW Cogdill
Journal of the Medical Library Association, 2007, 95(3), pp290-292
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Patient Safety

It’s time for a comprehensive interdisciplinary patient safety taxonomy
JF Byers, J Genovich-Richards, L Unruh
Journal for Healthcare Quality, 2007, 29(4), pp2-3

Making the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 work
R Vemula, RR Assaf, AF Al-Assaf
Journal for Healthcare Quality, 2007, 29(4), pp5-11

Missed opportunities for quality improvement
K Ho
American Journal of Medical Quality, 2007, 22(4), pp296-299

Management

Closing the gap between strategy and execution
DN Sull
MIT Sloan Management Review, 2007, 48(4), pp30-38

Innovation

Discovering “Unk-Unks” How innovators identify the critical things they don’t even know that they don’t know
JW Mullins
MIT Sloan Management Review, 2007, 48(4), pp17-21

Overcoming consumer resistance to innovation
R Garcia, F Bardhi, C Friedrich
MIT Sloan Management Review, 2007, 48(4), pp82-88

Sharing ideas and good practice using video technology
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. The annual conference brings together thinkers and doers who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. I have just watched an interview of an African boy describing how he brought energy to his home. It is completely inspirational, moving, and shows the value of libraries and the individual, and how big things can grow from little ideas. Using this short video (his is about 4 minutes), his idea can be shared across the world. I just thought you might find it interesting because it demonstrates how stories are an effective way to share information and inspire others to do something. 19-year-old William Kamkwamba won a standing ovation for his shy 3-minute interview, revealing how as a 14-year-old he had solved his parents' energy needs in a village with no electricity. Click here to see more.

Human Resources

Impact of hospital structure and restructuring on the nursing workforce
C Duffield, M Kearin, J Johnston, J Leonard
Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2007, 24(4), pp42-46

How to achieve effective clinical engagement and leadership when working across organisational boundaries: practical recommendations
This is a new handbook for clinicians, launched by the Modernisation Initiative, an NHS project in South London, which represents a major new approach to improving health services in Lambeth and Southwark. Click here to read more.

Events

Care Services Improvement Partnership Positive Practice Awards
The fourth Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) Positive Practice Awards (PPA) have been launched. The process is now online, and allows all applications to be viewed and rated by the public.

These awards were originally designed to recognise the successful contribution of mental health service teams. Over the years, they have grown, now including teams and individuals working in health and social care.

There are 12 categories for 2007, the first for an individual, and the rest for teams, and they are:

• Making a difference (individual award)
• Innovative partnerships
• High impact changes in mental health
• Specialist services
• Recognising diversity
• Personalisation - improving choice and control
• Information sharing joining health and social care
• Children, families and young people
• Health and social care in criminal justice
• New ways of working
• Using football to improve outcomes in health and well-being (sponsored by the Football Association)
• Innovative commissioning

Winners receive £2,000 and a trophy. The closing date for applications is 1 October 2007 and shortlisted entries will be announced on 15 October 2007. Click here to find out more.

Education

Pathology action learning sets
The Department of Health has published a document detailing all the pathology action learning sets which are currently in operation. Among the subjects covered are:
o Anti-coagulant clinics in the community
o Costing and commissioning
o Demand management
o Harmonisation of reference intervals
o HPA dyspepsia clinics
o Immunology shared service
o Informatics
o Lab to lab communications
o LEAN/6 Sigma
o Mortuary services
o Order communications
o Out of hours reporting
o Phlebotomy
o Point of care testing
o Reporting of results
o Service improvement
o Service reconfiguration
o Transport
o Using action learning to work with management teams
o Workforce reprofiling

The document is available to download from the Department of Health web-site.

Economics

Pay for performance in health care: strategic issues for Australian experiments
IA Scott
Medical Journal of Australia, 2007, 187(1), pp31-35
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Pay for performance – neither necessary nor sufficient for quality improvement, yet vital for success
AB Silvey
Journal for Healthcare Quality, 2007, 29(4), pp4-5

Pay for performance: FAQs from physicians
DE Casey
American Journal of Medical Quality, 2007, 22(4), pp229-231

Does higher cost mean better quality? Evidence from highly-regarded adolescent drug treatment programs
BR Schackman, EG Rojas, J Gans, M Falco, RB Millman
Substance Abuse Treatment Prevention and Policy, 2007, 2:23
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Cost-effectiveness of a nurse-led telemonitoring intervention based on peak expiratory flow measurements in asthmatics: results of a randomised controlled trial
DCM Willems, MA Joore, JJE Hendriks, EFM Wouters, JL Severens
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2007, 5:10
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