Faculty Awarded Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Grant to Study Technology's Impact on Homecare
April 18, 2016
Two Drexel University faculty members were awarded an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) R01 grant in the amount of $740,305 over a three-year period to fund a study of the information requirements, decision-making needs and workflow/efficiency in the homecare admission and care planning process. An R01 grant is awarded based on significance and innovation of the proposed research.
Paulina Sockolow, DrPH, associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions Department of Health Systems and Science Research is the Principal Investigator of the investigator-initiated R01. Ellen Bass, PhD, professor, who shares joint appointments in the College of Computing & Informatics and the College of Nursing & Health Professions, is a co-investigator. They received the grant as part of AHRQ’s initiative to support research to improve the quality, effectiveness, accessibility and cost effectiveness of health care.
The funded project, entitled “Information Needs of Homecare Nurses During Admission and Care Planning”, will focus on if/how health information technology efficiently supports the understudied area of homecare admission. Homecare is a sector of the health care industry that admits 11 million older patients annually. Improvements in the admission process could potentially lower hospital readmission rates by providing more timely and appropriately targeted allocation of clinical resources.
“This study will not only determine the support or hindrance that electronic health records provide during the clinical admission process, but it will also inform electronic health record design and future health information technology interventions when a patient is transitioning to and from home care,” said Sockolow.
“The transition from the hospital to home is critical to enhancing patient health outcomes and to reducing hospital readmissions. This research is filling a gap to support the information needs and decision-making process of homecare agency nurses so that they can create better plans of care for their patients,” added Bass.
The funding for this project began on April 1, 2016.