Keynote Speaker

R. Brian Haynes, MD (Alberta), MSc (McMaster), PhD (McMaster), FRCPC, FACMI
DeGroote School of Medicine
McMaster University
1200 Main Street West, Rm. 3V43C
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5

"Knowledge Translation Research: Paving The Road Between Evidence And
Health Outcomes"

The Institute of Medicine has decreed that at least 90% of clinical decisions will be "evidence-based" by 2020. This can only happen with much improved understanding and management of the barriers to successful "knowledge translation", that is, improved application of research evidence in health care practice. High fidelity evidence-based information systems provide the starting point, and an essential ingredient, for improving healthcare. However, knowledge translation (KT) processes are also needed if evidence-informed decisions are to become a practical reality.

KT processes include developing sound clinical and health care policy, developing applications to deliver the policy, and incorporating the applications into the care of individual patients and populations. For example, strong evidence shows that optimal stroke care prevents strokes and reduces mortality and disability from strokes, but achieving these benefits in usual practice settings requires knowledge translation by and for policy makers (forming and implementing evidence-based policy), managers (working across traditional financial and jurisdictional boundaries), the public (being aware and seeking care when needed), practitioners (developing new skills and assuring quality), and patients (adhering to recommended treatments).

This presentation will describe the evolution and current status of information systems that provide the building blocks for evidence-informed health care. It will then describe the knowledge translation steps needed to improve the implementation of evidence in practice, including the existing barriers and the research needed to overcome them.

Brian Haynes is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Medicine, Chief of the Health Information Research Unit at McMaster University, and attending staff in the Diabetes Care and Research Center at Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario. His main research interest is in "knowledge translation": developing and testing ways to improve health and health care through enhancing the validation, distillation, dissemination and application of health care knowledge. Of particular interest are studies of the nature of information problems that afflict practitioners, patients, the public and policy makers, and trials of promising solutions from information technology (online evidence-based information services, computer-aided quality improvement and evidence-informed clinical decision support). Brian's clinical interests include diabetes care and cardiovascular risk management.