Informing through
evidence

We use innovative methods to generate evidence and insights that inform changes in clinical care. We leverage clinician and consumer insights, data and analytics, and research and evaluation.

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Harnessing research innovations to improve healthcare

We have tripled our partnerships in research projects since 2023; with current projects worth more than $92M in grant funding.

In the 2023–24 financial year, we:

  • co-authored 43 journal publications and 28 conference presentations
  • received 92 requests for partnership
  • funded 8 research projects through the ACI Research Grant Scheme
  • partnered on 40 active research projects, supported by external funding.

Our Intellectual Disability Network, Musculoskeletal Network and Virtual Care team have the most active research partnerships.

Evaluating the experience of patients and staff using urgent care services

We are partnering with the Ministry of Health to evaluate the Urgent Care Services (UCS) Program, which launched in 2022 to reduce the pressure on emergency departments (EDs). It connects people to urgent care services, when clinically appropriate.

  • The evaluation brings together evidence from a range of methods, including:
    • patient surveys
    • analysis of healthdirect, UCS and ED data
    • staff surveys and interviews with UCS and non-UCS providers (staff from EDs, general practice and residential aged care homes).
  • We collected 581 responses to the patient SMS survey, between March and September 2024.
  • The evaluation will assess performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

New rapid approaches to advance innovations

New rapid approaches to evaluation and business case development are advancing evidence-based decision-making and improvements.

  • Our Evaluation team now offers rapid evaluations, which deliver responsive targeted evaluations while ensuring rigour and transparency.
  • We delivered four rapid evaluations this year, with another six in progress, on programs such as the:
    • Co-design Toolkit
    • Violence, Abuse and Neglect ‘Making Visible’ podcast
    • Safeguards Redesign Capability Building Program
    • Same Day and Short Stay Surgery Redesign Capability Building Program
  • Our Economics team has developed an approach to rapid business case development, for projects under $20M. This aims to ensure best practice, consistency and quality of business cases, in alignment to NSW Treasury guidelines.

Making data accessible to inform decisions and improve care

Automated and real-time visualisations offer powerful insights from large and complex data. They can support timely, informed decisions for service planning and care delivery.

  • We supported NSW hospitals with quarterly analysis of stroke data, which showcased their exceptional services and earned 31 gold and 4 platinum World Stroke Organization Angels Awards over the last year.
Coffs Harbour Hospital with their World Stroke Organization Platinum and Gold Angels Awards.
  • We developed interactive dashboards and reports, such as Microsoft Power BI and web-based reports, across a range of initiatives, including:
    • inpatient management of type 2 diabetes e-learning courses
    • monitoring the uptake and impact of Emergency Care Assessment and Treatment (ECAT) protocols on time-to-treatment; with summaries presented at the hospital, LHD and statewide level
    • monitoring progress against the NSW Health's Future Health Measurement Framework.
  • Dashboards have also been integrated with dynamic simulation modelling to test new models of care by simulating different scenarios.
Excerpt from an automated ECAT update report. LHD labels have been obscured.

A focus on ACI

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