Implementation Science at Intermountain

Intermountain Healthcare's unique term for implementation science, care delivery science, emphasizes the overarching mission of evidence-based medicine – helping patients back to better health.

Our team includes applied health services researchers, implementation scientists, and evaluation experts so that we can improve the quality and reliability of care.

Connect with us if you'd like to see how we can collaborate on your project.

Intermountain's approach to best practice implementation

  1. Search/Develop: Identify high potential evidence-based care practices/care process models for certification
  2. Certify: Certify high-potential evidence based care practices/care process models for prioritization
  3. Prioritize: Prioritize and fund deployment of high potential evidence-based care practices
  4. Spread: Execute implementation plan (test or scaled environments)
  5. Evaluate: Measure outcomes and adapt strategy

best practice

 

Why analyze implementation?

The need for this work is highlighted by past research findings that it takes an average of 17 years to turn 14% of original research into services routinely provided in community service settings  (Balas, 1998; Balas & Boren, 2000; Green et al., 2009).

History has plenty of examples that answer the question Why get evidence into practice?

  • It took 200 years before the Royal Navy routinely used lemon juice to prevent scurvy. First study 1601 (Mosteller F. Innovation and Evaluation. Science 1981; 211, 881-86)
  • The first RCT that showed the benefit of thrombolytic therapy was in acute MI late 1950s– not into routine use until 1990s (Antman EM. A comparison of results of meta-analyses of randomized control trials and recommendations of clinical experts: treatments for myocardial infarction. JAMA 1992; 268 (2):240-248)
  • Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928; 15 years later widespread use was documented for infected soldiers; only after WWII did this become use for civilian use (Bickel L. Howard Florey: The man who made penicillin. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press; 1972 “Clearly the burden of infection  reduced the military capability of the United Kingdom and allied forces in WWII) 

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