Overview
Building on the unique expertise within each research theme and on strong interdisciplinary, inter-agency collaborations, Centre for Health Systems and Technology (CHeST) research activities will focus on cross-cutting research themes, with a particular emphasis on integrated care implementation. This includes care integration delivery models, reducing health inequalities, performance evaluation, and the role of health technology in driving integration.
Research themes
CHeST features five core themes of research activity. While each of the five themes focuses on a discrete area, many health system and technology challenges require an interdisciplinary perspective and approach, introducing natural linkages across CHeST activities and research objectives.
Health Care Delivery
Professor Tim Stokes leads this theme which focuses on evaluating new ways of delivering health services for acute and chronic clinical conditions across the primary-community-secondary care interface.
Health System Architecture, Management, and Performance
Professor Robin Gauld leads this theme which focuses on system design and balance, new models of care, redesign of current models, service specific issues, and health service specific issues – eg health pathways, methods for performance assessment.
Health Quality, Safety, and Community Engagement
This theme is led by Associate Professor Sarah Derrett. The focus of this theme is on quality, safety, patient centred services, health and disability services, preventing adverse events and improving outcomes, and community engagement.
Health Workforce
Associate Professor Joanne Baxter leads this theme which focuses on health workforce intelligence, equity and diversity of the health workforce, new roles and scopes of practice, and Māori health workforce development.
Health Technology
Professor Stephen MacDonell is the theme leader for Health Technology. This theme's focus is on the development, deployment, adoption and use of smart informatics and analytics in health service delivery and uptake. Applications in a range of contexts and at various scales are relevant to the theme, from the provision of personalised health services for individuals with chronic conditions, through to the real-time visualisation of adaptive analytics within health providers, and to the predictive modelling of the efficacy of preventive measures in population health.