JBI COnNECT Resources: Evaluating the Effects of Evidence Use on Patient Outcomes
Introduction
Why is evaluating the effects of evidence important?
Step 6 in establishing and maintaining evidence-based health care in your facility/organisation involves evaluating the impact of the evidence your facilty/organisation has implemented on health outcomes, health systems and professional practice.
What resources are available?
- The JBI Practical Application to Clinical Evidence System (PACES)
- The JBI Patient Outcomes Online/Client Outcomes On Line (POOL/COOL)
- The JBI Evidence-Based Health Care Metrics Program **COMING SOON**
Who are these resources for?
JBI PACES and JBI POOL are designed for clinicians and health care organisations. JBI COOL, a replica of JBI POOL was designed exclusively for the aged care community. Audits in JBI PACES can be conducted at a clinician and an organisational level. Data from JBI POOL/COOL is collected at the clinician level with the capacity to be examined at higher levels (ward/department, unit, site and health service/group of site). JBI is also developing a set of metrics and a "score card" system for health and aged care that will be useful to evaluate current and continuing achievements in relation to performance and patient/resident/client outcome indicators.
Who has access to these resources?
All resources are only available to corporate members of JBI and subscribers of JBI COnNECT. For further information on membership and subscription please contact JBI: jbi@adelaide.edu.au.
JBI Practical Application of Evidence System (JBI PACES)
JBI PACES is a user-friendly online tool aimed at making it easier for health professionals to conduct an audit in a health care setting regardless of its size. JBI PACES allows users to compare data with other organisations of similar size or setting and provides ideas on how to facilitate a process of change in relation to the use of evidence in practice on a specific activity or intervention. The action research part of JBI PACES is referred to as GRIP, Getting Research Into Practice and is aimed at examining barriers to the utilisation of evidence and designing implementation programs to overcome these barriers. Audits can be conducted at a clinician level or at an organisational level and data can be entered using a PACESmate, a small hand held computer.
JBI Patient Outcomes On Line (JBI POOL)/Client Outcomes On Line (JBI COOL)
JBI POOL and JBI COOL are online prevalence databases that can be used as stand-alone database, or in conjunction with JBI PACES. JBI POOL was designed for clinicians and health care facilities/organisations (JBI COOL for aged care facilities) as an easy to use tool in the collection and storage of prevalence data. Data can be collected at a patient/resident/client care level and then examined at higher levels. Administrators are established for each institution and in-turn, establish structural levels under them. Outcomes can therefore be tracked within each facility and compared to the industry average.
JBI Metrics Framework *Coming Soon*
Metrics are systems of related measures that facilitate the quantification of performance or outcomes. In health and aged care, metrics are used to monitor and establish a facility's or organisation's progress towards the achievement of specified performance and outcome indicators.
Scorecards are performance measurement systems designed to provide information about an organisation to people external to the organisation such as potential patients/residents/clients and their families. A scorecard shows how facilities and organisations compare to others by ranking them according to the analysis of common metrics. For example, if performance metrics, such as nurse/resident ratio, admission rates to acute care, and hours of diversional therapy per bed; and outcome metrics such as rates of falls per resident care day, rates of skin tears per resident care day and rates of urinary tract infection; were collected from 100 aged care homes, a score card, showing how each of these facilities "scored" in these areas can be developed from analysis of the metrics (the public, specific stakeholders)." In the US public reporting of this information has been found to stimulate providers' efforts to improve the quality of care. JBI is currently developing, in collaboration with health and aged care providers, appropriate metrics and a system of online data entry and the publication of scorecards.