Examining organisational complexity and clinical risk to improve hospital patients' safety. Improving communicative practices will reduce the massive rate and cost of medication errors and hospital-acquired infections. Current costs of hospital-caused incidents are around AU$2 billion per year. These costs are likely to rise further because hospitals are becoming busier, more culturally and linguistically diverse, less generously resourced per patient, and more technologically capable of keeping ....Examining organisational complexity and clinical risk to improve hospital patients' safety. Improving communicative practices will reduce the massive rate and cost of medication errors and hospital-acquired infections. Current costs of hospital-caused incidents are around AU$2 billion per year. These costs are likely to rise further because hospitals are becoming busier, more culturally and linguistically diverse, less generously resourced per patient, and more technologically capable of keeping sicker patients alive for longer, leading to increased clinical risk and more incidents. This project could save around 20% of the total cost of hospital operations by reducing lengths of stay, lowering re-admission rates and ensuring better deployment of clinical resources.Read moreRead less
Work process change in hospital services. This project will compare how process re-engineering methods, such as Lean Management and Six Sigma, are implemented in hospitals in Australia and Canada and how they impact on staff and patient care.
A Framework for Software Component Conformance Testing. This research aims to establish a framework - a method, set of tools and business process - within which Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software components can be tested for conformance to client user requirements. There currently exists no general method for validating COTS components without access to source code. We will ?wrap? components in human readable and executable requirements specifications that will be the basis for: client/s ....A Framework for Software Component Conformance Testing. This research aims to establish a framework - a method, set of tools and business process - within which Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software components can be tested for conformance to client user requirements. There currently exists no general method for validating COTS components without access to source code. We will ?wrap? components in human readable and executable requirements specifications that will be the basis for: client/supplier negotiation about component functionality; generating conformance test cases; documentation for integration testing; advertising component capabilities. Outcome: a universally applicable component conformance framework directly beneficial to SMEs, and supporting the development of a robust component marketplace.Read moreRead less
To complain or not to complain-That is the question! Does under-representation of rural complaints compromise quality of rural healthcare? Pro-rata, rural residents make fewer formal complaints about health care services than do metropolitan residents. This research investigates the reasons why, and the implications for quality improvement of rural health services. The research will also identify the most appropriate ways of engaging rural consumer participation in monitoring the quality of t ....To complain or not to complain-That is the question! Does under-representation of rural complaints compromise quality of rural healthcare? Pro-rata, rural residents make fewer formal complaints about health care services than do metropolitan residents. This research investigates the reasons why, and the implications for quality improvement of rural health services. The research will also identify the most appropriate ways of engaging rural consumer participation in monitoring the quality of their health services. Based on improved indicators, the Health Services Commission and health providers will have access to a better evidence base for maximising the quality of health care and services available in rural areas.Read moreRead less