Dr Foster Unit international links
We contribute to a variety of healthcare initiatives, working globally to improve patient care.
Global Comparators: 5 Countries, 30 Hospitals
The Dr Foster Unit at Imperial makes several key contributions to the project which is faciltated by Dr Foster Intelligence. At the beginning, we advised on the data processing (e.g. determining what is an inpatient and defining the procedure groups) and ran the initial risk-adjustment models. More recently, we advised on the method for comorbidity adjustment and assessed the impact on the variation by country in mortality rates of different coding patterns and denominator inflation. We have also provided documentation around the methods used and have led the writing of two draft research papers to date. We are represented on the project’s Scientific and Research Committee. We will continue to work on indicators, risk-adjustment models and data presentation. More information on the work being carried out can be found on the Global Comparators website.
Real Time Monitoring: The Netherlands
Real Time Monitoring (RTM) is distributed in the Netherlands by De Praktijk Index www.depraktijkindex.nl. To date, 20 hospitals in the Netherlands use RTM. Dutch RTM is similar to the UK version. The Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College created the risk model for the Dutch HSMR which is one of the indicators that can be monitored in the tool.
The Rx Foundation: The USA
The development of international comparisons of healthcare performance has been spurred on by Professor Sir Brian Jarman’s continued international work. Sir Brian has secured significant funding from the Rx Foundation to continue work in US HSMRs.
Taiwan
The collaboration with Taiwan was initiated in April 2008 when Professor Ken N Kuo, Director of the Centre for Health Policy Research and Development, at the National Health Research Institutes and Professor Shou-Hsia Cheng, Director of the Bureau of National Health Insurance within the Department of Health came to visit the Dr Foster Unit and the Department of Primary Care and Public Health to investigate the work being conducted on primary health care.
The success and interest of this initial meeting led to a conference in February 2009 entitled “Contemporary primary health care: perspectives in UK and Taiwan” involving key British and Taiwanese organisations (the Dr Foster Unit, the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, and the Science and Technology division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK).
In July 2010 the NIHR CLAHRC for Northwest London Collaborative Learning and Delivery event was held at Imperial College, South Kensington which focused on patients and featured several Taiwanese speakers.
The Unit looks forward to further exchanges that are being planned within the department of Primary Care and Public Health.
