Advancing IWK Health as a Learning Health System: Exploring the use of data to inform decision-making

IWK Health aspires to transform care through fully integrated, internationally recognized research, teaching, and care. IWK Health's impact goal is to advance the science of learning health systems by exploring the use of data to inform health care decision-making. For the proposed program of work, the HSI fellow will address the following research objectives: 1. Explore the use of clinical and administrative data to inform decision making in practice; 2. Support data capture, linkage, and sharing within the organization through rapid cycle improvement across programs; 3. Collaborate with clinical teams to enhance a culture of rapid learning and improvement. To address the program objectives, this project will use a mixed methods study design, guided by an integrated knowledge translation approach. The fellow will employ an institutional ethnography approach to explore how clinical and administrative data can be used to inform decision making in practice. Next, the fellow will collaborate with knowledge users to co-design an intervention and implementation strategy to support data capture, linkage, and sharing within the organization through rapid cycle improvement across programs. The fellow will be embedded within two clinical teams including a Children's Mental Health Program and Women's Health Program. These two co-design teams (one from each clinical team) will follow a series of structured design meetings based on the Behaviour Change Wheel to develop the interventions and implementation strategies. Ultimately, this project will enhance the use of administrative and clinical data to inform decision-making, improve the quality of care and patient health outcomes, and advance the culture of a learning health system at IWK Health.