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Judging surgical research: how should we evaluate performance and measure value?
1Department of Surgery, the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Annals of Surgery
|June 22, 2000
Summary
Establishing clear performance criteria and aligning surgical research with clinical goals are crucial for future success. This approach optimizes research value and maximizes departmental objectives, ensuring a robust academic mission.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Research
- Academic Medicine
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Surgical research is vital for advancing patient care and training future surgeons.
- Healthcare resource constraints necessitate efficient research prioritization.
- Aligning research with clinical goals enhances both research impact and clinical enterprise value.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop criteria for evaluating surgical research performance.
- To propose strategies for optimizing future surgical research endeavors.
Main Methods:
- Adapted industrial research performance criteria for surgical research.
- Reviewed programs that integrate research objectives with clinical aims.
Main Results:
- Performance criteria encompass internal measures (quality, productivity, innovation), customer satisfaction, market share, and financial indices.
- A "report card" system is proposed for assessing departmental or divisional research performance.
Conclusions:
- Surgical research and business strategies must be integrated.
- Aligning research with clinical goals maximizes departmental objectives.
- Modifying hierarchical structures and reward systems is necessary for successful research alignment.