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Systematic Identification Of Coordination Gaps In Pediatric Care, Diana M. Prieto, Anil Kumar, Catherine L. Kothari, Cheryl Dickson

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

In the United States, the status of coordination among pediatric care services is not well understood. Through the use of quality improvement (QI) techniques, coordination gaps were systematically identified in the interagency network of pediatric services in Kalamazoo MI. Gaps were found in transportation resources, follow-up procedures, awareness of services, interagency communication, insurance limitations, population behaviors, and resource utilization. This preliminary study reveals the need for (1) protocols for intra- and inter-agency communication, (2) mechanisms for easy and fast retrieval of pediatric resources, and (3) health information exchange.

Activating Clinical Trials: A Process Improvement Approach, Diego Martinez, Athanasios Tsalatsanis, Ali Yalcin, José L. Zayas-Castro, Benjamin Djulbegovic

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Background: The administrative process associated with clinical trial activation has been criticized as costly, complex, and time-consuming. Prior research has concentrated on identifying administrative barriers and proposing various solutions to reduce activation time, and consequently associated costs. Here, we expand on previous research by incorporating social network analysis and discrete-event simulation to support process improvement decision-making.

Methods: We searched for all operational data associated with the administrative process of activating industry-sponsored clinical trials at the Office of Clinical Research of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. We limited the search to those trials initiated and activated between July …