Deakin University
Browse

On the right path? exploring the experiences and opinions of clinicians involved in developing and implementing HealthPathways Barwon

Download (203.73 kB)
Version 2 2024-06-05, 07:46
Version 1 2016-09-06, 12:51
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-05, 07:46 authored by SJ Mansfield, F Quirk, Kathryn Von TreuerKathryn Von Treuer, Gerard GillGerard Gill
The aims of this paper are to present the findings of a process evaluation exploring the experiences and opinions of clinicians who have been involved in the HealthPathways Barwon clinical workgroups and discuss implications for further development of the program, as well as regional health service initiatives more broadly. HealthPathways Barwon is a web-based program comprising locally agreed-upon evidence-based clinical pathways that assist with assessment, management and region-specific referral for various clinical conditions. Clinical workgroup members participated in focus groups. Coding and thematic analysis were performed and findings were compared with similar evaluations of HealthPathways in other jurisdictions. Five broad themes emerged from the focus group, each with several subthemes: (1) purpose of HealthPathways; (2) workgroup process; (3) barriers and facilitators to HealthPathways use; (4) impact of HealthPathways on clinical practice; and (5) measuring performance. Findings of particular interest were that the perceived drivers for implementation of HealthPathways Barwon are broad, HealthPathways Barwon is viewed positively by clinicians, the workgroup process itself has a positive impact on relationships between primary and secondary care clinicians, existing habits of clinicians are a major barrier to adoption of HealthPathways Barwon, the sustainability of HealthPathways Barwon is a concern and it is difficult to measure the outcomes of HealthPathways. Although HealthPathways Barwon is viewed positively by clinicians and is seen to have the potential to address many issues at the primary-secondary care interface, successful implementation and uptake will depend on buy-in from clinicians, as well as continuous evaluation to inform improved development and implementation. More broadly, health service initiatives like HealthPathways Barwon require longer-term certainty of funding and administration to become established and produce meaningful outcomes.

History

Journal

Australian health review

Volume

40

Pagination

129-135

Location

Collingwood, Vic.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1449-8944

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, AHHA

Issue

2

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC