Uncovering the processes of knowledge transformation: the example of local evidence-informed policy-making in United Kingdom healthcare.

Background: Healthcare policy-makers are expected to develop 'evidence-based' policies. Yet, studies have consistently shown that, like clinical practitioners, they need to combine many varied kinds of evidence and information derived from divergent sources. Working in the complex environment of healthcare decision-making, they have to rely on forms of (practical, contextual) knowledge quite different from that produced by researchers.

Discourses of joint commissioning.

Increasing attention has focused on the role of joint commissioning in health and social care policy and practice in England. This paper provides an empirical examination of the three discourses of joint commissioning developed from an interpretative analysis of documents by Dickinson et al. (2013; BMC Health Services Research, 13) and applied to data from our study exploring the role of knowledge in commissioning in England.

Evidence based policy making and the 'art' of commissioning - how English healthcare commissioners access and use information and academic research in 'real life' decision-making: an empirical qualitative study.

Background: Policymakers such as English healthcare commissioners are encouraged to adopt 'evidence-based policy-making', with 'evidence' defined by researchers as academic research. To learn how academic research can influence policy, researchers need to know more about commissioning, commissioners' information seeking behaviour and the role of research in their decisions.

Methods: In case studies of four commissioning organisations, we interviewed 52 people including clinical and managerial commissioners, observed 14 commissioning meetings and collected documentation e.

What do external consultants from private and not-for-profit companies offer healthcare commissioners? A qualitative study of knowledge exchange.

Objectives: The use of external consultants from private and not-for-profit providers in the National Health Service (NHS) is intended to improve the quality of commissioning. The aim of this study was to learn about the support offered to healthcare commissioners, how external consultants and their clients work together and the perceived impact on the quality of commissioning.

Setting: NHS commissioning organisations and private and not-for-profit providers.

Lipoprotein(a) is associated differentially with carotid stenosis, occlusion, and total plaque area.

Background: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a putative risk factor for myocardial infarction and stroke and is related to thrombosis and impaired fibrinolysis. We studied relationships of Lp(a) with carotid stenosis, occlusion, and total plaque area, distinct phenotypes of atherosclerosis that may be differentially affected by cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods And Results: Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to study relationships of Lp(a) to phenotypes of carotid atherosclerosis among 876 consecutive patients from an atherosclerosis prevention clinic with complete data for all variables used in the model.

Using industrial processes to improve patient care.

Might industrial processes improve quality, reduce waiting times, and enhance the working environment?