How can healthcare decision-makers lean on university expertise?
Clinicians and healthcare industry decision-makers need to make evidence-based decisions about issues that have far-reaching consequences for our community. Having a deeper understanding about how health systems and policy are governed or how science underpins and drives high quality clinical research is critical.
The Sydney School of Public Health offers expertise in the areas of health finance and clinical epidemiology, that can help planning and decision-making in healthcare.
Health finance
A clear understanding of the financial workings of healthcare is critical for the efficacy of the system. Researchers at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy can ensure your business and staff have the appropriate understanding and skill set.
This area assesses the reasons why and how we raise revenue for health and how we make decisions regarding spending on health. It examines the end to end system and how it affects healthcare. This drives corporate planning and critical decision-making.
An understanding of health finance enables industry bodies to develop their own research for decision-making and provides the skills to conduct research in specific content areas.
With this foundation, clinicians and people working in government and industry are armed with opportunities to improve their skills in health policy, systems and financial analysis. Courses are tailor-made for time-poor executives.
An example is the Business of Health course which explores the fiscal frameworks of the public healthcare system and the business models in the private setting. Other courses include the Data Literacy For Health Policymakers and a professional certificate in Health Technology Management. The School can also build teams and customise research and consultancy that is fit for your purpose.
Expert Profile: Dr Carmen Huckel Schneider
Clinical Epidemiology
Without evidence, science is simply conjecture. Clinical epidemiology, the science that underpins high-quality clinical research and drives evidence-based medicine, is an essential skill-set for creating high-value healthcare.
The important questions that clinicians and industry decision-makers rely on are often answered by clinical epidemiology. It provides evidence that improves patient care and health outcomes for individuals and healthcare systems.
The Sydney School of Public Health offers teaching, research and consulting expertise from initial concept and design through to statistical analysis, translation into practice and implementation of policy and guidelines. Examples include appraising evidence and understanding screening and diagnostic test evaluation.
The Faculty of Medicine and Health has partnered with key health decision-makers such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration, to deliver tailored training for their workforce. This model has broad applicability to other potential external partners such as Local Health Districts, state and federal policy-makers who work in areas such as health technology assessment, quality and safety in healthcare, and many others.
As a pharmacist researcher, I would say working with clinical epidemiologists has really elevated the quality of research that I am involved in. The specialized skills and training in all areas of trial design, analysis, clinical research and evaluation of clinical research that the team has to offer is exceptional.