Abstract
Introduction: This workshop is an interactive demonstration of a validated search filter which has been developed to assist clinicians and managers in locating published research on integrated care. The presenters will give a brief overview of the project and the methodology used. They will demonstrate the beta version of the search filter and invite comment and feedback from the audience. Attendees are encouraged to share their experiences in locating the peer-reviewed literature on IC, including specific questions on aspects of IC for which evidence is sought.
Integrated care (IC) is a prime driver of healthcare policy and practice reform internationally as governments and healthcare organisations endeavour to enhance efficiencies and patient-centred care . It is, however, a multifaceted concept, with a vast range of overlapping terminologies, and arguably lacks a unifying definition [1]. Search filters represent one innovative solution to this problem, by enabling brokered access to the underlying evidence base for rapid utilisation.
Methods: The International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), Central Coast Local Health District (NSW), The University of Newcastle (NSW), and Flinders Filters, Flinders University (SA)[2] collaborated to create an IC search filter (or “search strategy”) with known retrieval effectiveness in the PubMed Database, using a well-established experimental methodology[3].
Results: An IC search filter with a known level of sensitivity has been developed and validated for PubMed. This filter will be combined with a range of topics of interest to the IC community for more focused retrieval. These topics will include patient-centred care; health and social care integration; and chronic disease management. The search filter, badged as Integrated Care Search, will be made available on the IFIC website at https://integratedcarefoundation.org/
Discussions: IC is a polymorphous topic with contextually different meanings. Despite inherent complexities, under the guidance of international experts, it was possible to develop and validate a search filter which is capable of retrieving PubMed indexed IC literature at multiple levels of granularity through simple, one-click links.
Integrated Care Search will improve the ease, speed, and accuracy by which IC evidence is found. End-users can rely on the fact that it comprises a range of core IC concept terms, comprehensively identified and tested in a set of literature deemed of importance by IC experts.
References:
1- World Health Organization. Health Services Delivery Programme. Division of Health Systems and Public Health. Integrated care models: an overview. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2016.
2- Flinders University. Flinders Filters [internet]. Bedford Park SA: Flinders University [unknown date] [cited 2017 Sept 29]. Available from: http://www.flinders.edu.au/clinical-change/research/flinders-filters/
3- Tieman JJ, Lawrence MA, Damarell RA, Sladek RM, Nikolof A. LIt.search: fast tracking access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health literature. Australian Health Review. 2014;38(5):541-5. doi:10.1071/ah14019.