2018 Annual Meeting and Scientific Session Highlights
With record breaking attendance, the Fourteenth Annual Meeting and Scientific Session of the Surgical Outcomes Club was held on Sunday, October 21 in Boston, Massachusetts at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel. The day focused on two themes: Translating Research into Policy and Implementation Science. Healthcare policy is informed by health services research and public opinion, influenced by the media and lobbyists and determined by regulatory bodies including policy makers on Capitol Hill. The journey from data to policy to implementation of new regulation is often obscure. Our four panelist, who are national leaders in Health Services Research & Policy shared their unique perspectives and experiences in taking data from patient care to policy and policy to patient care. Next, we discussed implementation science, which involves the study and application of methods to promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions into health care policy and practice. This field has emerged over the past decade as an innovative approach allowing surgical outcome researchers to better understand barriers and facilitators to the adoption of effective surgical practices. Our three panelists discussed how they have applied implementation science methodology to their extramurally funded health services research projects in Urology, Surgical Oncology and Trauma/Critical Care. Finally, we heard a thought provoking keynote address from Dr. Ashish Jha on understanding the cases and consequences of US health care spending compared to other developed countries.