Health Services Research
The high calibre of IHPME's health services research initiatives can be attributed to two features: the breadth of knowledge represented among our faculty and the value we place on collaboration and inter-disciplinary research. The Institute brings together health and social scientists with backgrounds in management science, information science, the evaluative sciences, political science and law, organizational studies, sociology, and economics.
Broad themes in health services research carried out by IHPME faculty, all of which contribute to the production and dissemination of knowledge for the improvement and sustainability of the Canadian healthcare system, include:
- Health Services Organization and Management
The efficiency and effectiveness of Canada's health care system depends upon innovation and exellence in the organization and delivery of care. The application of organizational and management theory to the field of health care by IHPME researchers affords knowledge needed to address today's challenges and ensure the sustainability of our health care system for future generations. IHPME faculty are engaged in a variety of research areas including: processes and outcomes associated with health care restructuring; comparative evaluations of models of service delivery; the evaluation of innovations in service delivery, such as care delivery networks, interdisciplinary teams and quality improvement collaboratives; and the processes associated with change in various health care contexts. - Health Services Outcomes and Evaluation
Accountability is a critical component of an effective, efficient health care system. IHPME researchers help to ensure accountability through the evaluation of organizational and system-level performance. Developing and assessing tools for measuring organizational performance has been a key focus of IHPME researchers involved in projects such as the Health System Performance Research Network. IHPME researchers are also conducting evaluations of cost-effectiveness and efficiency in ambulatory, long-term care, home and community care. - Health Policy
The future of Canada's health care systems depends on the choices Canadian citizens and their political representatives make today. HPME researchers contribute to health policy by analyzing public policy formulation, implemeIntation and impact. They help building capacity for evidence-based political decision-making by engaging in on-going collaborative relationships with policymakers. Research studies include: the determinants and impact of health policy on care delivery and health, including the transition of the site of care from hospital to home; the public-private funding/delivery debate; and citizen engagement in health care decision-making. Through the CIHR Team in Community Care and Health Human Resources, IHPME researchers are also partnering with the community in interdisciplinary research on the shift of care from hospital to home/community with particular focus on health human resources. - eHealth Innovation and Information Management
New technologies are changing the delivery of health care. IHPME researchers are seeking to design, evaluate and use eHealth capabilities to better manage information and improve patient outcomes, through the use of electronic patient records, tele-health and web-based information and decision tools. IHPME faculty associated with the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation engage in collaborative, trans-disciplinary efforts to ensure that people, regardless of who or where they are, are able to access the information and services they need to maintain the highest levels of health. - Health Technology Assessment
The profusion of new drugs and health technologies poses a significant challenge to health care decision-makers who must contain costs while maintaining access. Health Technology Assessment is an interdisciplinary field that advances and applies theories, concepts and methods in order to understand and assess the development, implementation, diffusion and obsolescence of technologies, techniques, regulations and programs for the promotion of individual and population health. The Institute's research expertise in this growing area is reflected in its leadership role in the Toronto Health Economics and Technology (THETA) Collaborative, an interdisciplinary research group based at the University of Toronto. The international collaborative Health Care, Technology, and Place, based in IHPME, is a research and training collaborative exploring the ways new technology is reshaping the health care landscape. - Knowledge Translation
IHPME researchers are continually engaged in the translation of research into practices that improve healthcare. Collaborative relationships with healthcare providers and decision-makers and the community enhance this process. IHPME researchers with the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community (CRNCC) are using this collaborative approach to advance research and knowledge translation in the area of community care. In addition, a number of IHPME faculty are engaged in knowledge translation research that contributes to our understanding of the processes and contextual factors that impact efforts to incorporate evidence-based information into clinical and management practice. Research in the area of knowledge translation is essential to improving health care outcomes and maximizing the potential of the health system. - Patient Safety
The Canadian Adverse Events Study (2004), coauthored by IHPME researcher Ross Baker, has fundamentally shaped the patient safety agenda in Canadian health care. IHPME is a leader in research and knowledge translation on issues of quality of care and patient safety, including adverse events in hospitals and long term care, effective measurement of patient safety and governance for quality and safety. - Health Economics
Economic analysis provides a critical foundation for making and examining resource allocation decisions within the health sector and between that sector and other sectors. IHPME researchers apply the foundations of economic analysis to theoretical, empirical, evaluative, and policy issues in the field of health and health care. In IHPME, researchers are particularly interested in examining the choices and other behaviours of health care recipients, health care providers, and third party payers and regulators as well as advancing methods for evaluating health care services, technologies and programs.