SPH and MED Launch New Center
Originally published at the BU School of Public Health.
The Schools of Medicine and Public Health are pooling two specific disciplines at a new center to help improve healthcare systems.
The Department of Medicine Center for Implementation and Improvement Sciences (CIIS) will be a methodological hub for the scientific evaluation of current efforts. CIIS will focus on care for underserved populations, particularly at Boston Medical Center.
Mari-Lynn Drainoni, associate professor of health law, policy & management at SPH, will serve as co-director of CIIS and will lead the implementation science component. The quality improvement component will be led by Allan Walkey, assistant professor of medicine at MED.
“I’m excited about bringing more of an implementation science focus to the campus, especially this that is more safety-net focused,” says Drainoni.
Implementation science looks at how and whether new evidence-based endeavors are put into clinical practice, while improvement science measures outcomes of these efforts to improve healthcare delivery. CIIS will allow researchers, clinicians, and administrators to pool their methods and knowledge from these two disciplines, guiding, supporting, and innovating design of projects evaluating efforts to implement healthcare system change.
The center will also educate faculty and trainees in implementation and improvement sciences with short training programs.