SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
Going digital: a narrative overview of the effects, quality and utility of mobile apps in chronic disease self-management
Smartphone health applications (apps) are being increasingly used to assist patients in chronic diseaseself-management. The effects of such apps on patient outcomes are uncertain, as are design features that maximise usabilityand efficacy, and the best ethods for evaluating app quality and utility.
Headroom approach to device development: current and future directions
The headroom approach to medical device development relies on the estimation of a value-based price ceiling at different stages of the development cycle. Such price-ceilings delineate the commercial opportunities for new products in many healthcare systems. We apply a simple model to obtain critical business information as the product proceeds along a development pathway, and indicate some future directions for the development of the approach.
Patient Heterogeneity in Health Economic Decision Models for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Are Current Models Suitable to Evaluate Personalized Medicine?
How suitable are current chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cost-effectiveness models to evaluate personalized treatment options for COPD by exploring the type of heterogeneity included in current models and by validating outcomes for subgroups of patients?
Conducting a multicentre and multinational qualitative study on patient transitions
The aim of this paper is to describe the approach we used during the HANDOVER Project to develop a multicentre, multinational research project for studying transitions of patient care while creating a community of practice for the researchers.
Barriers and facilitators to shared decision-making in hospitals from policy to practice: a systematic review
Involving patients in their healthcare using shared decision-making (SDM) is promoted through policy and research, yet its implementation in routine practice remains slow. Research into SDM has stemmed from primary and secondary care contexts, and research into the implementation of SDM in tertiary care settings has not been systematically reviewed. Furthermore, perspectives on SDM beyond those of patients and their treating clinicians may add insights into the implementation of SDM. This systematic review aimed to review literature exploring barriers and facilitators to implementing SDM in hospital settings from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Designing Shared Decision-Making Interventions for Dissemination and Sustainment: Can Implementation Science Help Translate Shared Decision Making Into Routine Practice?
Shared decision-making (SDM) is not widely practiced in routine care due to a variety of organizational, provider, patient, and contextual factors. This article explores how implementation science—which encourages attention to the multilevel contextual factors that influence the adoption, implementation, and sustainment of health care practices—can provide useful insights for increasing SDM use in routine practice. We engaged with stakeholders representing different organizations and geographic locations over three phases.
A review of methods for addressing components of interventions in meta-analysis
Many healthcare interventions are complex, consisting of multiple, possibly interacting, components. Several methodological articles addressing complex interventions in the meta-analytical context have been published. We hereby provide an overview of methods used to evaluate the effects of complex interventions with meta-analytical models. We summarized the methodology, highlighted new developments, and described the benefits, drawbacks, and potential challenges of each identified method.
Medication Management Frameworks in the Context of Self-Management: A Scoping Review
Many individuals take multiple prescribed and unprescribed medications, also known as polypharmacy, which can be problematic. Improving medication self-management is important; however, most medication management frameworks focus on adherence and limit the integration of the core components of self-management. Therefore, the objective of this scoping review was to identify what is reported in the literature on medication management frameworks or models within the context of self-management.
Organizational- and system-level characteristics that influence implementation of shared decision-making and strategies to address them — a scoping review
Shared decision-making (SDM) is poorly implemented in routine care, despite being promoted by health policies. No reviews have solely focused on an in-depth synthesis of the literature around organizational and system-level characteristics (i.e., characteristics of healthcare organizations and of healthcare systems) that may affect SDM implementation. A synthesis would allow exploration of interventions to address these characteristics. The study aim was to compile a comprehensive overview of organizational- and system-level characteristics that are likely to influence the implementation of SDM, and to describe strategies to address those characteristics described in the literature.
How can we transfer service and policy innovations between health systems?
The TO-REACH project addressed what the key priority areas are where European health systems can learn from each other and how we can improve their ability to do so. This brief is one of a pair of policy briefs and looks at the how – that is, how health systems can learn from each other. It also looks at what determines success and failure in the transfer of service and policy innovations and in scale-up.