Beautiful Information aims to be a research-led unit. Where we deliver operational change within East Kent or partner trusts we will attempt where possible to publish our findings so that any recommendations can be implemented elsewhere within the NHS. Our current main research areas are:
‘dataintoaction’
We have extensive experience of dashboard design and have implemented real-time ‘Hospital at a Glance’. One of our specific areas of research is around how visually information is presented in such a way that it generates action. This is not an area where extensive research exists and encompasses a range of research opportunities from the visual presentation of statistics in an intuitive manner to how a performance management framework that centres upon rigourous data can be designed.
clinical trial patient selection
The drive to recruit patients for clinical trials is too often hampered by the inability to select relevant patients quickly. By linking data about patients in real-time and applying algorithms to select them according to which trials are currently running and the numbers of subjects needed we we can demonstrate evidence of drastically improving the recruitment for trials. By providing an alerting system and communication platform for hospital clinicians and GPs we can identify the research pool much more quickly.
risk-stratification
Alongside the extensive programmes being run by commissioners for risk-stratifying populations such as PARR, PARR+ and PARR30 we are developing a range of disease specific algorithms for the most high risk patients. A good example is the research undertaken by the EKHUFT Renal department around Acute Kidney Injury.
readmissions
Through the development of algorithms to develop, for the first time, risk-stratification in real-time to operational research around how discharges are handled, beautiful information are working with academic partners to build statistical models which identify patients at risk of readmitting into an acute setting. Historically built for monitoring mortality and length of stay outliers, these techniques are now being utilised to predict readmission upon the point of admission and within that to split out those that were avoidable.
consultant appraisal and revalidation
Beyond traditional measures such as Mortality, Length of Stay, Readmission and day-case rates we are researching closely with clinicians to develop speciality specific measures to enhance, from a local perspective, guidance produced from the national colleges. Where possible we are developing local benchmarking initiatives so that clinicians are able to compare their performance with peers beyond the trust that they work within.
avoidable emergency department attendance and admission
There is a widely held belief that between 30% and 40% of those that attend Emergency departments are avoidable. At beautiful information we are developing a range of statistical measures to identify, monitor and segment this large cohort of patients and work with commissioners to develop new pathways of care with different touchpoints beyond an acute trust setting.