Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links.

Center for Healthcare Organization & Implementation Research

Menu
Menu
Quick Links
Veterans Crisis Line Badge
My healthevet badge
 

Organization and Implementation

CHOIR logo banner

CHOIR has a unique, deep history of expertise in implementation and organization sciences. Because increasing numbers of CHOIR projects focus on or incorporate ideas and theories from organization and implementation, it is one of CHOIR’s Research Areas.

Organization science considers how an organization functions in its environment, structures itself, ensures coordination, and chooses priorities. This approach examines how elements such as leadership, organization structure, team functioning, reward structures, and personal evaluations align with desired outcomes and transform over time. CHOIR studies these elements throughout VA with the goal of achieving outstanding clinical outcomes. For example:

  • Terri K. Pogoda, PhD, principal investigator for several studies of VA traumatic brain injury (TBI) and polytrauma clinics, is examining how polytrauma team composition affects coordination and quality of care.
  • CHOIR also developed a model of organizational transformation; in a partnered evaluation led by Martin P. Charns, DBA, CHOIR investigators are studying VA’s Lean Enterprise Transformation and giving rapid formative feedback to VA leaders and the Veterans Engineering Resource Centers (VERC), which is leading the implementation of Lean management. CHOIR is an international leader in its application of organization science to studies of implementation of evidence based practices, process improvement and organizational transformation.

Implementation science addresses the gap between having evidence and putting evidence into practice. CHOIR investigators began work on implementation early in the Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Quality Enhancement Research Initiatives (QUERI) program while also contributing to the implementation of other quality improvement programs. In CHOIR’s partnered research, broader evidence-based practices combine with the specific needs of partner organizations.

Going forward, CHOIR will continue to incorporate theories of organization and implementation science into many projects. A rigorous look at the interface of these sciences, how organizational factors affect implementation and organizational transformation, and how the resulting process changes influence clinical outcomes in VA, will shape the research area of organization and implementation.

For more information about organization and implementation at CHOIR, contact Dr. Martin Charns, Martin.Charns@va.gov.

return to top go