Malaz Boustani

The average time from when a healthcare innovation is discovered until it is implemented in real-world practice is seventeen years. Encouraging the adoption of innovative solutions for improving care delivery requires more than just sharing the results of a clinical study or a quality improvement initiative. Hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics, and other care settings are complex systems of unique individuals all processing information in real time to make decisions about patient care. Agile Diffusion describes a framework not for simply spreading information, but for influencing human behavior so that sustainable change can occur. Using real-life examples and leveraging theories from multiple disciplines, the authors: describe the field of Agile Science and how it differs from traditional change models; introduce updated theories of information diffusion and how the unique makeup of care delivery systems inform the rate of diffusion; differentiate between diffusing information and diffusing behavior when attempting to encourage the adoption of healthcare innovations; provide a step-by-step framework for how to diffuse behavior changes to reduce the time from "discovery-to-delivery" of innovative solutions. The US healthcare system is in dire need of updated tools and techniques to accelerate the adoption of healthcare innovations. Become a change agent by learning how to utilize Agile Diffusion to improve the lives and outcomes of patients across the country.

Agile Implementation describes the underlying theories and frameworks that explain health delivery systems and lays out the 8 steps of the Agile Implementation Model founded by Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH and Jose Azar, MD. In today’s complex healthcare environment, implementing evidence-based care into real-world practices is difficult and time consuming. Even methods that are known to be effective allow for limited flexibility and therefore fail as often as they succeed. Through much study and experimentation, Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, Jose Azar, MD, and Craig A. Solid, PhD have come to understand how individuals’ interactions within the complex social systems of hospitals, clinics, and other care delivery organizations shape the decisions and behaviors of those involved. Upon this foundation and through leveraging theories of behavioral economics, we have developed the Agile Implementation Model, a process for selecting, adapting, implementing, evaluating, sustaining, and scaling evidence-based healthcare interventions. This model acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual facility and considers individuals within the system to be semiautonomous but interconnected. In tandem with illustrative examples, Agile Implementation describes the underlying theories and frameworks that explain health delivery systems and lays out the 8 steps of the Agile Implementation Model. Upon completing Agile Implementation, readers have a better understanding of why certain quality initiatives succeed while others fail and have tangible, actionable tools for implementing effective and sustainable change in the healthcare setting.

Agile Implementation describes the underlying theories and frameworks that explain health delivery systems and lays out the 8 steps of the Agile Implementation Model founded by Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH and Jose Azar, MD.In today's complex healthcare environment, implementing evidence-based care into real-world practices is difficult and time consuming. Even methods that are known to be effective allow for limited flexibility and therefore fail as often as they succeed. Through much study and experimentation, Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, Jose Azar, MD, and Craig A. Solid, PhD have come to understand how individuals' interactions within the complex social systems of hospitals, clinics, and other care delivery organizations shape the decisions and behaviors of those involved. Upon this foundation and through leveraging theories of behavioral economics, we have developed the Agile Implementation Model, a process for selecting, adapting, implementing, evaluating, sustaining, and scaling evidence-based healthcare interventions. This model acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual facility and considers individuals within the system to be semiautonomous but interconnected. In tandem with illustrative examples, Agile Implementation describes the underlying theories and frameworks that explain health delivery systems and lays out the 8 steps of the Agile Implementation Model. Upon completing Agile Implementation, readers have a better understanding of why certain quality initiatives succeed while others fail and have tangible, actionable tools for implementing effective and sustainable change in the healthcare setting.