Ideas

Id No Entry No Source Source link Source Type Main Domain Sub-domain 1 Sub-domain 2 Key Points Citns Jan 24
35 53 Burns CM, Bennett CJ, Myers CT, Ward M. The use of cusum analysis in the early detection and management of hospital bed occupancy crises. Medical journal of Australia. 2005;183(6):291. Link Empirical study Systems Systems dynamics Stock and flow A study confirming the value of a form of statistical process control in monitoring and management the seasonal variations in the flow of patients through hospitals and consequent pressure on bed stocks and staff workloads 44
34 52 Buckingham M. First, Break All the Rules?: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. Simon & Schuster; 2000. Link Book Groups Staff Management A detailed account of a large Gallup survey of many public and commercial organizations to work out how to attract and keep the best staff. In essence a 12 point check list is the key - a list that contains a few questions that might not be expected. A useful checklist for all managers.
33 51 Brown JS, Duguid P. Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization science. 1991;2(1):40-57. Link Theory /Hypothesis Groups Communities of practice Learning - organisational A lengthy and detailed but important and much quoted review-hypothesis about the important differences between, to use Argyles nomenclature, espoused theories of how work should be done compared with the theories in action of how work actually gets done in practice. Uses work of photocopier technicians as an example but many of the circumstance and instances are reminiscent of the differences in work practices and mindsets between clinicians and healthcare managers 15,567
29 50 Braithwaite J, Westbrook MT, Hindle D, Iedema RA, Black DA. Does restructuring hospitals result in greater efficiency-an empirical test using diachronic data. Health Services Management Research. 2006;19(1):1-12. Link Empirical study Groups Organisations - healthcare Restructuring A survey of 20 Australian hospitals to assess whether those that had undergone major organisational restructuring achieved the anticipated gains in efficiency. In short, they did not. 85
27 49 Braithwaite J, Churruca K, Ellis LA, et al. Complexity science in healthcare. Aspirations, approaches, applications and accomplishments A white paper Sydney, Aust: Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. Published online 2017. Link Report /White paper Systems Organisations - healthcare Complex adaptive systems A readable and comprehensive account of the mechanism and impact of the complex adaptive systems that are a large part of the difficulty in managing in healthcare organisations and that are often poorly understood 276
25 48 Braithwaite J, Runciman WB, Merry AF. Towards safer, better healthcare: harnessing the natural properties of complex sociotechnical systems. Quality and Safety in Health Care. 2009;18(1):37-41. doi:10.1136/qshc.2007.023317 Link Review /Overview Systems Organisations - healthcare Complex adaptive systems A shorter overview of the white paper (qv this database Entry no 49) by Braithwaite and colleagues of the mechanism and impact of the complex adaptive systems in healthcare organisations 230
24 47 Boyce MB, Browne JP, Greenhalgh J. Surgeon's experiences of receiving peer benchmarked feedback using patient-reported outcome measures: a qualitative study. Implementation Science. 2014;9:84. Link Empirical study Groups Doctors Patient reported outcomes Survey of attitudes of surgeons to receiving feedback from patient reported outcomes . Probably unsurprisingly this varied and could be classified into one of three groups - Advocates, Converts ans Sceptics 53
22 46 Bismark MM, Spittal MJ, Gurrin LC, Ward M, Studdert DM. Identification of doctors at risk of recurrent complaints: a national study of healthcare complaints in Australia. BMJ quality & safety. 2013;22(7):532-540. Link Empirical study Groups Doctors Behaviour - aberrant A national study of complaints against doctors showing that a small proportion accounted for the majority of complaints and that the likelihood further complaints is predicable from past histories. 171
20 45 Berwick DM. The John Eisenberg Lecture: Health Services Research as a Citizen in Improvement. Health Services Research. 2005;40(2):317-336. Link Review /Overview Groups Organisations - healthcare Practice improvement An overview of the state of the art of health service improvement as it then was that is worthy of attention if only for a remarkable figure showing the complete absence of any correlation between the standardized mortality for a set of common conditions and the cost of care in a large number if USA hospitals with a 4 fold variation between the lowest and highest costs and mortalities 48
13 44 Bate P, Robert G, Bevan H. The next phase of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from social movements? Quality and Safety in Health Care. 2004;13(1):62-66. Link Review /Overview Systems Social factors Practice improvement An interesting speculation around the reality that many attempts to improve the safety and quality of healthcare fail and that (in the UK) only around 15% of NHS staff participate in centrally driven 'programmatic' initiatives. New approaches based on the successful elements of social movements are suggested. 167
12 43 Basch E, Deal AM, Kris MG, et al. Symptom monitoring with patient-reported outcomes during routine cancer treatment: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology. Published online 2015:JCO630830. Link Empirical study Groups Patients Patient reported outcomes A controlled trial showing that oncology patients given access to an online PROMS systems has better outcomes 2,050
7 42 Argyris C. Double loop learning in organizations. Harvard business review. 1977;55(5):115-125. Link Theory /Hypothesis Groups Organisations Learning A persuasive theory about why many organizational strategies and operational objectives fail, This is reckoned to be due to the mismatch between the assumptions and often over-simplified plans and objective of senior management and the more complicated realities of the workplace. 3,911
5 41 Amrhein V, Greenland S, McShane B. Scientists rise up against statistical significance. Nature. 2019;567(7748):305. Link Review /Overview Systems Data sciences Statistical methods Overview of growing concerns about inappropriate use of t-tests and wrong designations that results are or are not 'statistically significant' - based on consensus statement to this effect by over 800 scientists. 2,619
4 40 Ambady N, LaPlante D, Nguyen T, Rosenthal R, Chaumeton N, Levinson W. Surgeons' tone of voice: A clue to malpractice history. Surgery. 2002;132(1):5-9. Link Empirical study Individuals Doctors Communication Two 10 second extracts of first and last minute of consultation conversations between surgeons and patients significantly associated with litigation risk 587
627 39 Bartunek JM. Intergroup relationships and quality improvement in healthcare. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2011;20(Suppl 1):i62-i66 Link Review /Overview Groups Teams Social factors A proposal that relationships among healthcare professionals that influence the quality of care delivered depends on the interplay of three types of dynamics: social identity, communities of practice and socialisation into particular professional identities 130
626 38 Thomas EJ, Sexton JB, Helmreich RL. Discrepant attitudes about teamwork among critical care nurses and physicians. Critical care medicine. 2003;31(3):956-959. Link Empirical study Groups Teams Social identity A study of f the quality of teamwork and communications in 8 intensive care units showing that in several areas doctors and nurses have very different perceptions. 73% of physicians for instance considered the quality of their collaboration and communications with nurses to be high or very high whereas the only 33% of nurses were of the same opinion. 1,072
625 37 Wenger EC. Introduction to communities of practice - wenger-trayner. Published January 12, 2022. https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ Link Web site Groups Communties /networks Communities of practice An insightful but not widely recognised concept developed by Etienne Wenger which he defines as : " Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly." Equally applicable wherever humans gather together for some shared activity whether social, occupational, or recreational.
624 36 Edmondson AC, Bohmer RM, Pisano GP. Disrupted routines: Team learning and new technology implementation in hospitals. Administrative Science Quarterly. 2001;46(4):685-716. Link Empirical study Groups Teams Learning A comprehensive analysis of the factors that determined the effectiveness of the uptake of a new technique of minimally invasive cardiac surgery in 16 USA hospitals. Focused on the key determinants of success in the introduction of such innovations by designated teams, but also relevant to the sociology of communities of practice. 2,501
623 35 Stanovich KE, Toplak ME. The Rationality Quotient: Toward a Test of Rational Thinking. MIT Press; 2016. Link Book Individuals Cognition Rationality An overview of the work of the authors in investigating the important differences between intelligence and rationality or between algorithmic and reflective thinking. They include details of the test that they use to measure rationality and they also define and explain the important differences between 'epistemic' and 'instrumental' rationality:

" Epistemic rationality is about what is true and instrumental rationality is about what to do. For our beliefs to be rational they must correspond to the way the world is— they must be true. For our actions to be rational, they must be the best means toward our goals— they must be the best things to do. Nothing could be more practical or useful for a person’s life than the thinking processes that help them find out what is true and what is best to do. "
622 34 Gawande A. The Coach in the Operating Room | The New Yorker. September 26 2011 Link Essay /Article Individuals Doctors Coaching Atul Gawande is an accomplished surgeon, public health researcher and writer. This is one of several eloquent and thoughtful essays published in the New Yorker on medical topics. In this one he raises the question of why it should be that eminent musicians and elite sports stars accept the need for ongoing coaching, but not as rule surgeons and other medical specialists. He points out the good evidence that coaching works well in improving the performance of other professionals such as teachers, and recounts his own experiences in using a surgical colleague as a coach