Leveraging a Province-Wide Electronic Health Record System to Integrate Health Promotion into Routine Hospital-based Care in Alberta, Canada- A Research Protocol for Evaluation

Objective: The Integrating Prevention into Connect Care for Health (IPiC-Health) initiative embeds a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral (SBIR) approach for health promotion into routine inpatient and ambulatory care, facilitated by the province-wide, EPIC™-based, electronic clinical information system in Alberta. The SBIR approach supports patients in achieving behaviour change regarding tobacco and alcohol use and physical inactivity. This methodological article describes the research plan to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of SBIR intervention.

Methods: This effectiveness-implementation hybrid study includes a quasi-experimental design for quantitative assessment of SBIR implementation (adoption/coverage) and effectiveness (behaviour change and health service use) outcomes. Each participating site recruits control patients for 6 months, followed by 15 months intervention. Patients are followed up for 12 months after recruitment to assess effectiveness outcomes. Mixed methods are used to assess implementation uptake, process, and experience.

Expected results and implications: Recruitment and data collection activities are ongoing in participating sites. This effectiveness-implementation research will strengthen evidence and implementation guidance to inform spread and scale up of the approach across Alberta’s hospitals and beyond. An electronic record of patient’s risk factors can improve patients’ care and population health by making these data readily available to support care decisions.