Evidence use in health, teaching, and policing

"This report outlines the pioneering evidence work of UK and Irish professional bodies in health, teaching and policing. They have been championing research and evaluation in the daily work of more than one million professionals – to improve the lives of patients, pupils and the wider public."

Bodies of Evidence How professional organisations in health, education and policing champion the use of research
J Breckon, H Mthiyane, J Shepherd
September 2019

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Quality assessments for cancer centers in the European Union

"The need for assessments in cancer centers is increasing. To improve efforts in the quality of research and patient care and to prevent new assessments that “reinvent the wheel”, it is advised to start comparative research into the assessments that are likely to bring patient benefits and improve patient outcome."

Quality assessments for cancer centers in the European Union
A Wind, A Rajan, WH van Harten
BMC Health Services Research, 2016, 16:474

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Monitoring change in health care through statistical process control methods

"The family of approaches known as statistical process control (SPC) have been widely used for monitoring outcomes in industry and have gained acceptance in many health care settings: usually within an organisation or clinical pathway. However, they are less commonly applied to look at population level changes across organisations: the changes we now see emerging in new models of care. Moreover, SPC methods can be applied to looking at some of the measures (such as changes in emergency admissions) that are commonly used to monitor major programmes of organisational change as seen in, for example, new models of integrated care or the Vanguards."

Monitoring change in health care through statistical process control methods
C Sherlaw-Johnson, M Bardsley
Nuffield Trust
January 2016

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Evaluation of complex health and care interventions

"As policy-makers, commissioners and providers look to innovate and develop new ways of delivering care, there is increasing recognition at both national and local levels about the importance of understanding what works, why it works, and to demonstrate impact on cost and patient outcomes. One of the recurrent problems when evaluating the impact of new care models on outcomes is how to know ‘what would have happened under a different approach to delivering care’."

Evaluation of complex health and care interventions using retrospective matched control methods: A guide for evaluators
A Davies, C Ariti, T Georghiou, M Bardsley
Nuffield Trust
August 2015

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High performing hospitals

"This review provides insights into methods used to identify high performing hospitals, and yields ideas about the factors important for success."

High performing hospitals: a qualitative systematic review of associated factors and practical strategies for improvement
N Taylor, R Clay-Williams, E Hogden, J Braithwaite, O Groene
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:244

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Assessing an experimental approach to industrial policy evaluation

"In this paper we consider the arguments for applying experimental methods to industrial policy measures, and propose an experimental policy evaluation approach (which we call RCT+)."

Assessing an experimental approach to industrial policy evaluation: Applying RCT+ to the case of Creative Credits
H Bakhshi, JS Edwards, S Roper, J Scully, D Shaw, L Morley, N Rathbone
Nesta Working Paper 15/10
May 2015

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Value of health information technology (HIT)

"The authors present a conceptual framework for measuring HIT value and propose a checklist of characteristics that should be considered in HIT evaluation studies. The framework consists of 3 key principles: 1) value includes both costs and benefits; 2) value accrues over time; and 3) value depends on which stakeholder’s perspective is used."

The value of health information technology: Filling the knowledge gap
RS Rudin, et al.
American Journal of Managed Care, 2014, (11Spec No. 17):eSP1-eSP8

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How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services

"Partnerships with relevant third sector organisations are critical to help commissioners reach young people."

Right Here:  How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services for young people
Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Mental Health Foundation
2014

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Click here to read a summary from The Commissioning Elf.

Quality improvement financial incentives for general practitioners

"Across all literature in this review, there was a lack of explicit acknowledgement of whether the outcomes measured were absolute or relative improvement."

Quality improvement financial incentives for general practitioners
J Oliver-Baxter, L Brown, M Raven, P Bywood
Primary Health Care Research & Information Service
May 2014

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An evidence-based framework to measure quality of allied health care

"This paper outlines a framework for a standard approach to evaluate the quality of allied health therapy services."

An evidence-based framework to measure quality of allied health care
K Grimmer, L Lizarondo, S Kumar, E Bell, M Buist, P Weinstein
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014, 12:10

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Patient reports of the outcomes of treatment: a structured review of approaches

"The purpose of this was to identify suitable candidate questions for a short instrument to tap patient evaluations of in-patient hospital interventions."

Patient reports of the outcomes of treatment: a structured review of approaches
H Lloyd, C Jenkinson, M Hadi, E Gibbons, R Fitzpatrick
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2014, 12:5

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Performance-based financing as a health system reform

"The paper lays out a broad framework within which indicators can be prioritised for monitoring and evaluation of performance-based financing or other health system reforms."

Performance-based financing as a health system reform: mapping the key dimensions for monitoring and evaluation
S Witter, J Toonen, B Meessen, J Kagubare, G Fritsche, K Vaughan
BMC Health Services Research 2013, 13:367

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Measuring a caring culture in hospitals

"Characteristics of the instruments included in this review could provide useful input for the design of a reliable and valid instrument for measuring a caring culture in hospitals."

Measuring a caring culture in hospitals: a systematic review of instruments
G Hesselink, E Kuis, M Pijnenburg, H Wollersheim
BMJ Open, 2013, 3:e003416

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Advancing the science and practice of scale-up and spread in health

"Conference attendees identified and prioritized five recommendations (and corresponding sub-recommendations) for advancing scale-up and spread in health: increase awareness, facilitate information exchange, develop new methods, apply new approaches for evaluation, and expand capacity."

A stakeholder-driven agenda for advancing the science and practice of scale-up and spread in health
WE Norton, CJ McCannon, MW Schall, BS Mittman
Implementation Science, 2012, 7:118

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Evaluating disease management programmes: learning from diverse approaches across Europe

"The project reviewed the policy context for, and approaches to, chronic disease management in 13 European countries, using a structured data collection instrument that organised chronic disease management around four components: active patient involvement, service design, decision support and clinical information systems."

Evaluating disease management programmes: learning from diverse approaches across Europe
E Nolte, et al.
RAND Europe
October 2012

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Consumer quality index (CQ-index) in an accident and emergency department

"The Consumer Quality index for the accident and emergency department measures patients' experiences of A&E healthcare performance."

The consumer quality index (CQ-index) in an accident and emergency department: development and first evaluation
N Bos, LM Sturms, AJP Schrijvers, HF van Stel
BMC Health Services Research, 2012, 12:284

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Provider-level risk-adjusted quality measurement for inpatient rehabilitation facilities

"This report should be of interest to researchers involved either in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) or the development of IRF quality reports or in outcomes studies that require risk adjustment."

Provider-level risk-adjusted quality measurement for inpatient rehabilitation facilities
AW Dick, PJ Huckfeldt, H Liu, H Yu, A Mehrotra, SL Lovejoy, JS Ashwood
RAND Corporation
2012

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Pan-London tuberculosis services

"This paper has identified key issues relating to London's TB services' organisation, delivery, professional workforce and skill mix."

Pan-London tuberculosis services: a service evaluation
R Belling, S McLaren, M Boudioni, LP Woods
BMC Health Services Research, 2012, 12:203

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Overarching questions for patient surveys

"This report describes a project to test and develop a new overarching measure of patient experience for use in a wider range of settings."

Overarching questions for patient surveys: development report for the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
C Graham, S MacCormick
Picker Institute Europe
June 2012

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Developing and validating disease management evaluation methods for European healthcare systems

"We reviewed the policy context for, and approaches to, chronic disease management in 13 European countries."

DISMEVAL: Developing and validating disease management evaluation methods for European healthcare systems: final report
E Nolte, S Hinrichs
RAND Europe
April 2012

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An accompanying document for users and funders is available here.