The Monash University Consortium: factors involved in the local implementation of clinical evidence into practice

As part of the Clinical Support Systems Program, the Monash University Consortium conducted a project to identify factors influencing the implementation of clinical evidence into routine hospital practice, Australia. Training was required in the process of clinical practice improvement (CPI) and the nature of evidence. One of the most helpful instruments for change was to point to active models of quality assurance as exemplars. Staff can be trained to be good managers, but leadership is less susceptible to training and is better obtained by selective recruitment. CPI requires rapid feedback on the effectiveness of the implementation. Access to this information and the confluence of management skill, an ability to translate research evidence into routine clinical behaviour and an understanding of the process of quality assurance are central. Effective CPI is only possible when the larger hospital administrative culture is committed to providing the necessary resources.