Finding Joy in the Practice of Implementation Science: What Can We Learn from a Negative Study?

Excerpt

The practice of implementation science is the ongoing hard work of translating scientific learning into actualized and measured improvements in healthcare delivery. Implementers integrate delivery system data and know-how with findings from scientific literature and carry out and study their interventions within the system’s management structures. Studies testing the effects of these interventions fall within the broad category of quality improvement but address the specific case of delivery system implementation of scientifically based interventions. The implemented interventions are not usually based on a single study, but rather reflect synthesis, such as systematic review-based recommendations or guidelines. The study by McWilliams and colleagues, entitled “Aiming to Improve Readmissions Through InteGrated Hospital Transitions” (AIRTIGHT) and published in JGIM,¹ is an example of a high-quality, negative quality improvement intervention (QII)² study aimed at implementing research-based recommendations. The study has much to teach both about reducing readmissions and about the practice of implementation science. …