$8.4 million grant success

A major cross-institutional research collaboration aimed at reducing the number of patients harmed in Australia has received $8.4 million in funding in the latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) program grants.

Professor Johanna Westbrook, Director of the Health Informatics Research and Evaluation Unit, is a chief investigator on the project which will run for five years commencing in 2009.

With current research showing that patient harm occurs in 10% of hospital admissions, and that less than half of all patients receive recommended care, this research aims to investigate how and why this occurs. The major focus will be on the roles of teamwork, safe medication use and the application of enhanced Information Technology (IT) to support improved decision-making.

The research program will pursue four cross-linked research programs that directly address these gaps by elucidating:

1. Which plans are being used to treat Australian patients, and why are they chosen?
2. What system problems perpetuate flawed plans and failures of their execution?
3. Which information technology interventions are most likely to enhance the selection of the right plan, and its effective execution?
4. Can a theoretical synthesis of this knowledge build a safety model that predicts the dynamic and complex interactions of health service performance?