The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has tapped the Iowa City VA Health Care System to carry out a pioneering initiative to accelerate the implementation of practice-changing research results in clinical care to improve patients’ outcomes.
The Iowa City system is one of 42 health systems nationwide selected.
As a participant in PCORI’s Health Systems Implementation Initiative (HSII), the Iowa City VA Health Care System (HCS) will bring its experience and expertise in health care delivery to develop and implement strategies to adopt new evidence.
The goal is to cut the estimated 17-year lag between publication of research results that have been shown to improve patients’ outcomes and their widespread uptake in health care practice.
The Veterans Health Administration and the Iowa City VA HCS have a history of implementing evidence-based practices to improve health care delivery that benefits veterans and the community.
Recent examples at the Iowa City VA HCS include developing a program that reduced postoperative surgical site infections and a novel post-hospital Transition of Care Clinic that helps veterans maintain their recommended treatments to reduce the risk of rehospitalization after discharge.
Participation in the initiative will help the Iowa City VA HCS improve care by implementing more evidence based practices and participate with a consortium of other health care systems to disseminate knowledge of successful practices.
HSII participating health systems have the opportunity to prepare proposals for capacity building projects in the first stage of the initiative. Each participating health system can receive up to $500,000 for a project in this initial stage that supports preparation for future implementation strategies. A second HSII funding opportunity will support practical and innovative projects that promote uptake of specific evidence from PCORI-funded research studies within the health systems, with funds ranging from $500,000 to $5 million per implementation project.
In addition, through the HSII Learning Network, the Iowa City VA HCS and other participants will share experiences and learn from one another about best practices for implementation, evaluation metrics, and other topics integral to successful implementation of care-informing strategies. Through the network, participants will provide input to PCORI on topics and specific PCORI-funded findings of interest for future implementation projects.
HSII participants represent 800 hospitals serving 79 million patients across 41 states and the District of Columbia.
