Informing through
evidence
We apply innovative methods to generate evidence and insights that guide improvements in clinical care — drawing on clinician and consumer perspectives, data, analytics, research and evaluation.
Informing new opportunities for artificial intelligence in healthcare
We support the NSW Health Critical Intelligence Unit to maintain living evidence tables that summarise new and promising innovations in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support healthcare. Topics include:
- clinical applications of AI
- automating indirect clinical tasks and administration
- system implementation.
The latest evidence is also shared via the weekly evidence digest and will continue to inform implementation of the NSW Health Artificial Intelligence Framework.
Collaborating for research-driven healthcare improvement
We have increased our partnerships in research projects; with current active projects worth more than $142M in external grant funding. In the 2024–25 financial year, we:
- co-authored 44 journal publications and 15 conference presentations
- received 105 requests for partnership
- funded 4 research projects through the ACI Research Grant Scheme
- partnered on 65 active research projects, supported by external funding.
Our Virtual Care Network, Musculoskeletal Network, Aged Health Network and the Emergency Care Institute have the most active research partnerships.
“Research collaboration is crucial for fostering innovation by leveraging the strengths of different institutions and sectors. It allows for the more efficient use of resources; accelerates the translation of research into practical applications; and enables the development of solutions to complex challenges.”
Henry Ko, ACI Research Manager
Mapping the arts landscape across NSW Health
We are progressing deliverables of the Health and the Arts Framework to support impact, research, development and innovation across the state.
The first is developing a statewide evaluation and monitoring plan, including an audit of existing arts in health activities across NSW Health. The audit:
- uses mixed methods at 2 pilot sites in the Southern and South Western Sydney LHDs, supported by local 'arts in health champions'
- involves an environmental scan, crowdsourcing, structured self-assessment, focus groups, activity and workforce data, and site visits
- will inform development of a scalable and adaptable model for statewide rollout.
“We’re mapping out the current landscape of arts in health activities and related evidence across NSW Health. The goal is to benchmark these initiatives; highlight pockets of brilliance; and identify areas where there may be gaps or opportunities for improvement.”
Tara Dimopoulos-Bick, Design, Capability and Experiential Evidence Stream Lead
Partnering to share our expertise
We continue to provide a consultancy service to other areas of NSW Health, which leverages our skills and reduces costs to the health system. Since September 2023, the ACI has:
- completed 29 projects with a further 22 underway
- attracted $4.6 million in internal funding over 3 financial years
- generated at least $2 million in savings compared with estimated costs to engage external consultants.
Products and services include:
- Evaluation
- Evidence checks
- Consultation and experiential evidence
- Clinical practice guides
- Data analysis
- Strategy development
- Service and policy review
- Business case and cost-benefit analysis
- Dynamic simulation modelling
The consultancy service has generated at least $2M in savings compared with estimated costs to engage external consultants.
Data informs care planning and quality improvement
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 to inform site-specific benchmarking and quality improvement programs – 20,000 stroke admissions were recorded from 49 hospitals this year (up from 15 hospitals in 2021).
- The Intensive Care Data Asset (ICDA) is a prototype dataset to advance intensive care research and innovation, delivered in partnership with eHealth NSW, the Ministry of Health and the Office for Health and Medical Research. The ICDA:
- holds data on 70,000+ patients and 95,000+ ICU admissions, totalling 1.4 billion clinical records, including pathology, medications, and procedures
- is updated weekly from eRIC systems across LHDs, ICDA is structured for analysis and securely hosted in the NSW Health Enterprise Data Lake
- enables advanced analytics to support clinical innovation, evidence-based insights, and better patient outcomes across the intensive care landscape in NSW.
Research partnerships support value-based healthcare
We are partnering with key stakeholders under new grant projects to bring together clinicians and researchers to drive health system improvements.
- Our Intensive Care NSW team will assess ways of reducing potentially unwarranted diagnostic testing in intensive care units, as part of a $2.7M Medical Research Future Fund Clinical Trials Activity grant, in collaboration with the University of Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains LHD.
- Our Rural Health Network will partner with the National Centre for Farmer Health to support the redevelopment and expansion of the AgriSafe program – a vital health, wellbeing and safety initiative tailored to the needs of people working in agriculture. The Medical Research Futures Fund Clinical Trials Activity grant facilitates the clinical research needed to ensure it remains evidence-based, effective and future-ready.
- We secured a $345,000 National Health and Medical Research Council grant with the University of Sydney, to implement Finding Your Way – one of the first shared decision-making models designed with, and for, Aboriginal people.
More about our research partnerships
– Dr Nhi Nguyen, ACI Clinical Director of Intensive Care NSW and Senior Staff Specialist at Nepean Hospital ICU
Rapid evaluation informs statewide initiatives
We continue to deliver rapid evaluation of clinical network projects and projects commissioned by other NSW Health agencies as part of our consultancy model. In 2025, we conducted rapid evaluations of the:
- paramedic workforce pilots
- electronic medical records, finding tools to support osteoporosis refracture prevention
- inpatient diabetes management capability building program, which includes e-learning modules and the Thinksulin App.
Evaluation recommendations will inform the next steps for each initiative, including consideration for future paramedic workforce pilots and improving existing tools.
