Health Service Improvement Research

The Health Service Improvement group has a focus on person-centered healthcare research aimed at improving acute, sub-acute and community care, delivering a better patient journey, producing greater efficiency, and creating increased satisfaction for our health care professionals. The group supports healthcare organisations through a collaborative and coordinated approach to health service innovation and research.

Research Partners

The group established international research partnerships with Ko Awatea a New Zealand centre for Health System Innovation and Improvement. Ko Awatea Centre for Education involves a joint venture with AUT University, Manukau Institute of Technology and the University of Auckland. The research partnership between UTAS and Ko Awatea entails a supervised project on the effect of the Australian ‘My Health Record’ on consumers. One of the expected outcomes of this research is to federal and local government regarding the, use, implementation and further development of ‘My Health Record’.

The group also established partnerships with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) in the United Kingdom and the University of Oxford investigating the association between influenza vaccine administration and primary care consultations for respiratory infections. This collaborative work involves a sentinel network study of ten seasons (2009-2019) in the English population.

Expertise

  • Clinical and healthcare redesign
  • Co-design
  • Patient and family engagement
  • Leadership in healthcare
  • Teaching and Learning in healthcare
  • Qualitative research and mixed methods research
  • Assessment and Evaluation of Curriculum
  • Education and Training Systems
  • Learner and learning Achievement
  • Health and Support Services
  • Behaviour and health
  • Health Information Systems
  • Health Care Administration

Projects

Group Projects

  • Completing Neurological Care – using co-design to inform improved, more timely access for outpatient physiotherapy services in North West Tasmania
  • Improving outcomes for babies born in North West Tasmania: a quality improvement study.
  • Co-Led Redesign of Stroke Services in North West Tasmania
  • Evaluating outpatient attendance following the introduction of a patient focussed booking system
  • The impact of the Graduate Certificate (Clinical Redesign) course on student learning, patients and organisational outcomes, delivered collaboratively through the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and the Tasmanian School of Medicine
  • What value is the extended scope Occupational Therapy (ESOT) service to stakeholders?
  • A cross sectional study examining the development opportunities for potential nurse unit managers and the effect this has on their perception of preparedness
  • Association between influenza vaccine administration and primary care consultations for respiratory infections: a sentinel network study of ten seasons (2009-2019) in the English population
  • Optimising decision-making in hospital patient flow: Combining stochastic prediction and machine learning in a novel user-centred application
  • Investigating the feasibility of tailored education interventions for women with persistent pelvic pain
  • Telehealth for Exceptional Needs Clients
  • How information initiates change in management and healthcare delivery processes, decision frames and outputs
  • Evaluation of specific referral pathways from the Children’s Emergency Department (CED)/Children’s Short Stay Unit (CSSU) to the Children’s Hospital in the Home (CHITH) Co-design of a young adults’ diabetes service for Northern Tasmania

Higher Degree by Research Projects

  • Consumer readiness in the adoption of personal electronic healthcare records within Nepean Blue Mountains region, Australia: What influences their ability to play an active role?
  • Exploring experiences of patients rehabilitated with removable complete dentures to enhance quality of life
  • Evaluating the use of Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiograms in Tasmanian Emergency Departments – A Mixed Methods Approach
  • Multi-morbidity and Service Integration - Improving health services in Tasmania.
  • The Role and Scope of Practice for Advanced Practice Radiation Therapists in Regional and Rural Tasmanian Radiation Oncology Departments.
  • Leadership Development: Understanding the missing link in Health and Human Services workforce development.
  • Is Altruism Embedded in both Paramedic Practice and the Education of Emerging Paramedics?
  • An Investigation Cost into an Evidence-based Model of Care for Forensic Patients in Tasmania

Key Publications

  • Prior, SJ, Reeves, NS, Campbell, SJ. 2020, Challenges of delivering evidence‐based stroke services for rural areas in Australia. Aust J Rural Health. 28: 15– 21.
  • Prior S, Miller A, Campbell S, Linegar K, Peterson G. 2020, The Challenges of Including Patients with Aphasia in Qualitative Research for Health Service Redesign: Qualitative Interview Study J Participant Med 12(1)
  • Crameri, K.-A, Maher, L, Van Dam, P, Prior, S. 2020, Personal electronic healthcare records: What influences consumers to engage with their clinical data online? A literature review. Health Information Management Journal.
  • Prior, SJ and Mather, C and Miller, A, Campbell, S. 2020, An academic perspective of participation in healthcare redesign, Health Research Policy and Systems, 17 pp. 1-6.
  • Prior, SJ, Cheek, C, Cheah, D, Etherington, C, Williams, A, Reeves, NS. 2019, Medication Error Rate in Transition of Care: General Practitioner (GP) Referrals to a Regional Emergency Department, Healthcare, 7 (152) pp. 1-6.
  • Van Dam, PJ, Griffin, P, Reeves, NS, Prior, SJ, Paton, B, Verma, R, Giles, A, Kirkwood, L, Peterson, GM. 2019, Learning in practice: Collaboration Is the way to improve health system outcomes, Healthcare, 7 (3) pp. 90.
  • Prior, S, Reeves, N, Peterson, G, Jaffray, L, Campbell, S. 2019, Addressing the gaps in post-stroke sexual activity rehabilitation: Patient perspectives, Healthcare, 7 (1) pp. E25.
  • Moon, S, Van Dam, PJ, Kitsos, A. 2020, Measuring Transformational Leadership in Establishing Nursing Care Excellence, Healthcare, 7, (4) pp. 1-11.
  • Van Dam, PJ, Ford, KM. 2020, Nursing Leadership Learning in Practice: A Four Stage Learning Process, International Archives of Nursing and Health Care, 5, (3) pp. 1-8.
  • Hilder, B, Van Dam, P, Doherty, K. 2018, Advanced practice radiation therapists: an Australian context, Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences, 65, (2) pp. 137-147
  • Maree, P, Hughes, R , Radford, J, Stankovich, J, Van Dam, P. 2020, Integrating patient complexity in health policy: A conceptual framework. Australian Health Review (In print)

    • Prior, SJ and Van Dam, PJ and Griffin, PEJ and Reeves, NS and Kirkwood, L* and Paton, B* and Giles, A* and Peterson, GM, “The healthcare redesign student experience: qualitative and quantitative insights of postgraduate work-integrated learning”, Higher Education Research and Development pp. 1-17. ISSN 0729-4360 (2020)

Group Leader(s)

Dr Sarah Prior

Affiliation

Healthcare Redesign
Tasmanian School of Medicine

Group members

The ACI and UTAS partner in healthcare redesign education