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Table 1 Overview of evidence-informed implementation strategies

From: The development, implementation and evaluation of clinical pathways for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Saskatchewan: protocol for an interrupted times series evaluation

Implementation strategy

Description

Development

 Clinician involvement

Utilization of individuals from all relevant professional groups [24, 33].

 Evidence based interventions

Development which emphasises the importance of linking recommendations to the scientific research that supports them, identified through rigorous systematic identification and appraisal of all relevant research [24, 33].

 Local consensus processes

Inclusion of participating providers in discussion to ensure that they agree that the chosen clinical problem is important and the approach to managing the problem is appropriate [34].

Analysis and Implementation Planning

 Implementation team

Utilization of a multidisciplinary change team. This team should include representation from three different leadership levels: Senior Leadership, Clinical/Technical Expertise, and Front-line Leadership [24, 34].

 Identification of potential barriers to change

Strategies to improve professional practice taking into account prospectively identified barriers to change [24, 35, 36].

 Identification of practice gaps

Collection and analysis of data related to the need for the innovation; this assessment is used for: the description of usual care and its distance from evidence based care, outcomes of usual care, opinions from stakeholders on the needs for an innovation, and/or special considerations for delivering the innovation in the local context [24, 36].

Education

 Local opinion leaders

The use of providers nominated by their colleagues as educationally influential [24, 33, 35].

 Educational meetings

The participation of healthcare providers in conferences, lectures, workshops or traineeships [35].

 Educational outreach

The use of a trained individual who meets with providers in their practice settings to give information with the intent of changing the providers’ practice [34, 35].

 Printed educational materials

The distribution of published or printed recommendations for clinical care, including clinical practice guidelines, audio-visual materials and electronic publications [34, 35].

Systems

 Audit and feedback

Any summary of clinical performance of healthcare over a specified period, which is intended to change health professional behaviour. Indexed by objectively measured professional practice or healthcare outcomes [24, 35].

 Reminders

Patient or encounter specific information, provided verbally, on paper or digitally. This information is intended to prompt a health professional to recall information [24, 34, 35].