The Augusta University Health Services Research Lab investigates innovation and change in the structure and content of health care communication that results in implementation of evidence-based practice, health information technology, and patient-centered care. A key deliverable is the identification of evidence-based management strategies for enabling tacit knowledge exchange, changes in practice and behavior, and learning outcomes in health care organizations. A mixed-method research approach is used, incorporating quantitative and qualitative techniques, content analysis, and Social Network Analysis, with an emphasis on network structure.
Effective Communication Network Structures for Hospital Infection Prevention - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
This prospective implementation-research project combined health services research,
education, and quality improvement. It examined the structure and content of communication
enabling successful implementation of evidence-based practices to prevent catheter-related
bloodstream infections at GR Medical Center, and served a dual purpose as a performance
improvement project for reducing CRBSIs and as a study of communication dynamics enabling
successful implementation of evidence-based practices at the unit level.
Short or Long End of the Lever: Associations between Patient-and-Family-Centered Communication
of the Asthma-Action Plan and Outpatient Revisits for Pediatric Asthma - Augusta University Institute for Public and Preventive Health
A community partnership study on patient-centered care, hospital quality improvement,
and community health promotion as related to costly hospital revisits for asthma.
The six-month study evaluated use of a written Asthma Action Plan at the Children’s
Hospital of Georgia, where outpatient pediatric asthma revisits were significantly
above national norm. Plans were developed jointly by the provider and patient and
promoted self-management or home care.
Results showed parents unanimously perceived provider communication of the Asthma Action Plan as highly positive. However, there were no statistically significant differences in revisit behavior between pre- and post-intervention periods, and revisits remained high. Results suggest limited potential in reducing outpatient pediatric asthma revisits and the need for a broader community-based intervention to address social, living, and environmental variables impacting self-management and revisits. Results provide insight into various policy, research, and practice implications for asthma management and indicate the need for a revised socio-ecological theoretical framework.
Rangachari, P. "Using social knowledge networking technology to enable meaningful use of electronic health record technology in hospitals and health systems: A review article." Journal of Hospital Administration, 2014; 3(6): 66-78.
Rangachari, P., Madaio, M., Rethemeyer, R.K., Wagner, P., Hall, L., Roy, S., Rissing, P. "Cumulative impact of top-down periodic quality improvement communications on infection prevention practices and outcomes in two units. "Health Care Management Review, published ahead of print, 12p. Aug 12, 2014. PMID:25120195.
Rangachari, P. Madaio, M., Rethemeyer, R.K., Wagner, P., Hall, L., Roy, S., Rissing, P. "Role of communication content and frequency in enabling evidence-based practices." Quality Management in Heath Care, 2014; 23(1): 43-58. PMID: 24368720.
Rangachari, P. Madaio, M., Rethemeyer, R.K., Wagner, P., Hall, L., Roy, S., Rissing, P. "The evolution of knowledge exchanges enabling successful practice change in two intensive care units." Health Care Management Review,published ahead of print, 15p. Oct 22, 2013. PMID: 24153028.
Rangachari, P., Rissing, P., Rethemeyer, R.K. "Awareness of evidence-based practices alone does not translate to implementation: Insights from implementation research." Quality Management in Health Care, 2013; 22(2): 117-125; PMID: 23542366.
Rangachari, P. "Effective communication network structures for hospital infection prevention: A study protocol. "Quality Management in Health Care, 2013; 22(1):16-24; PMID: 23271590.
Rangachari, P. "Overcoming the unintended adverse consequences of implementing health IT through human resource and knowledge management." Advances in Health Care Management, 2010; 9: 163-194; NLMID: 101090746 [Medline].
