Getting a clinical innovation into practice: An introduction to implementation strategies

Area of Science:

• Implementation Science
• Healthcare Innovation
• Evidence-Based Practice Adoption

Background:

• Clinical innovations require rigorous testing, paralleled by implementation science's focus on uptake.
• Implementation strategies are crucial for integrating evidence-based practices into healthcare settings.
• Barriers to adoption exist at multiple levels within healthcare systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce implementation strategies within healthcare.
• To define the rigor in applying strategies to address adoption barriers.
• To explore factors influencing strategy selection and documentation in implementation studies.

Main Methods:

• Review of implementation science principles and documented strategies.
• Analysis of strategy selection based on contextual, innovation, and recipient factors.
• Emphasis on rigorous definition, application, and documentation of implementation strategies.

Main Results:

• Implementation strategies are theory-based and rigorously tested.
• Strategy selection is context-dependent.
• Documentation of strategies is key for successful innovation handoff.

Conclusions:

• Implementation science provides a framework for understanding and improving the adoption of clinical innovations.
• Effective implementation strategies are essential for bridging the gap between research and practice.
• Further research trials are needed to test the effectiveness of various implementation strategies.