Health Intelligence Priorities
& Developments for Health
Dr Davida De La Harpe
Assistant National Director of Population Health HSE
University of Limerick meeting
Introduction
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Transformation and Change in HSE
What is population health?
What is health intelligence?
Where does research fit?
The future?
HSE STRUCTURE
Administrative Areas
Executive Structure
Board
Audit
Board / Sec
CEO
C / PAD
Quality & Risk
Consumer
Office of
the CEO
RHO
Comms.
SPRI Steering Group
& Unit
Expert Advisory
Groups *
Corporate
Services
ICT
Shared
Srvs.
HR
Corp. Plng.
& Ctrl.
Processes
Finance
PCCC
Population
Health
NHO
Children *
Ageing *
Disability *
Cancer *
Procure
Estates
Surgery *
Health Services
Support Services
A&E*
Medicine *
Mental Health *
Reform & Innovation
* Examples
Our Mission = Our
Fundamental Purpose
To enable people
live healthier and
more fulfilled lives
Research
• A systematic and rigorous process of
enquiry that aims to increase knowledge• When applied to health : it aims to improve
health, health outcomes and health
services
The Population Health Directorate
• Population Health's mission is to promote and
protect the health of the population
• Emphasis on reducing health inequalities.
• Takes account of all determinants of health and
recognises that good health is the responsibility
of everyone
• Acts as a unifying influence for the entire health
service, tries to ensure that a Population Health
approach supports and informs the planning and
delivery of health services in Ireland.
Population Health
Structure
Population
Health
Environmental
Health
Health
Protection
Health
Promotion
Emergency
Planning
Strategic
Planning
Health
Intelligence
HR
Population Health Function
A Population Health Approach includes the
Following
 Using the best health intelligence for planning, evaluation and performance
management
 Planning for health and not just health services
 Promoting equity as a strong value in the health system
 Applying research evidence to improve health outcomes
 Adopting a formal approach to needs assessment to identify gaps in the
service
 Re-orientating service delivery from hospitals to primary care and health
promotion
 Providing services which are integrated within the health sector and with
those of other sectors
 Working with other sectors to improve health – to include public
involvement
 Demonstrating a better return for society from investment in health
Major Changes
From:
Change Area:
To:
Care Requirement
Chronic Acute/Episodic
Illness Cure
Health Focus
Wellness & Prevention
Hospital/Surgery
Care Delivery
Healthcare System
Acute/Episodic
Paper-based
Expert Opinions
Individual
Professional Discretion
Health Records
Healthcare Knowledge
Approach to Care
Governance
Computer-based
Evidence Base
Individual & Population
Accountability
Health Intelligence
• Health Intelligence is part of Population
Health service within the Health Service
Executive (HSE) and is responsible for
capturing and utilising knowledge to
improve health outcomes for the
population
• Cross directorate supports and linkages
• External linkages and collaborations
Health Intelligence
components
• Small team in Dublin
• Others locally based
throughout the
country
Health
Information
unit
Admin
support
Strategic
information
systems
A/ND
HI
Specialised
services
EBHC
Research
And
Development
Health intelligence
provides
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HIPE analysis and commentary
Demographic data
Mapping services
Evidence based supports and teaching
Advice on research projects and
applications
• Internal HTA supports
What does Health Intelligence do?
• Health Information and Surveillance
• Evidence Based Health Care, Research, and
Development
• Support for Health Technology Assessment and Health
Impact Assessment: providing all those who make
decisions in the HSE with high-quality information or
tools to determine potential impacts of decisions on
provision of new technologies or other developments on
health and health inequalities
• Knowledge management: Capturing, collating, storing
and sharing knowledge
• Linkages between health care professionals and relevant
health care information.
Building Capacity
• Ability to seek evidence based information,
synthesize and utilise it to improve patient
care
• E-resources– key tool for knowledge
management
• Networking increasingly important –
learning from each other’s perspective
(e.g.CHAIN)
Transformation Programme
2007-2110
• Transformation of health and social services
calls for a change in
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What we do
How we do things
How we work together
How we all commit to each other
to enable people live healthier and more fulfilled
lives
• Health intelligence underpins and facilitates this
Transformation priorities
• Transformation priorities - 6 in total – focus on 3
• “Integrated patient journey”
• “Ensure all staff engage in transforming health
and social care in Ireland”
• “Implement a model for population health and
the prevention and management of chronic
illness” - Pop Health
Health intelligence
• Intelligence is experience integrated and realised. Our
journey involves unlearning what we know, seeing things
in new ways and engaging dynamically in evolving how
we perceive everything. It starts by knowing where we
are and where we want to go. Knowledge is having
information. Intellect is the ability to use it.
• Intelligence is the gift of seeing beyond it, seeing new
relationships and thinking laterally, outside the box, it is
the power of applying and abstracting dynamically. (M. E.
Meegan)
• Applying this to our services and a population health
approach
HSE research support
overriding priority
• to ensure that investment ensures optimal
delivery of services at a systems and
individual level in the context of our
population health approach
Health intelligence role
• enhance information, knowledge and
resource exchange among researchers,
care providers and policy makers and the
public
• Feed in directly to reviews, service
planning, horizon scanning, research
Things we need to do
now
• Enhance capacity
• work across boundaries within and outside the
HSE
• use the information we have in a better way
• Develop more innovative approaches to
information and knowledge management
• Addresses -coding
• Health identifier?
• ? Legislation to allow better linking of patient
information
Key areas(1)
• Health service research• Getting research into practice-translational
– scientific discoveries must be translated into
practical applications
– The knowledge required to deal with a
majority of questions that arise exists- but
accessing it is an issue
Key areas(2)
• Participatory research- researchers actively
engaging with the organisation or setting they
seek to study
• evidence-based information on healthcare
outcomes, quality, and on cost, use, and access.
• Our priority research should prevent cancer,
heart disease, stroke, and lung disease by
developing and evaluating policies, programs,
communications, and other tools to change the
social, behavioural, economic and biological
determinants of these diseases
Knowledge needs
• How to increase physical activity, improve
diets, as well as reduce tobacco use,
obesity, high blood pressure, stress,
diabetes, drug and alcohol abuse, income
inequality, poverty, illiteracy, etc……
• Not all in the domain of HSE- but we
should be influencing
Research strategy
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Research – consultation process
Current work programme:
METR
Therapies research strategy
Childrens research startegy
Ethics- survey etc
Data protection and governance
Transformation -enabler
HI •
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www.healthintelligence.ie
www.factfile.ie
Developing more web-based resources inc intranetEvidence based health care:
Programme developed- teaching sessions- working with EAGs etc
Inputting evidence base and interpretation in to the various
documents and working groups
• Information – Health Atlas Ireland:
• Innovation awards
• Core health intelligence staff acting as a resource for research and
networking and knowledge ( e.g CHAIN)
System changes?
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Enhanced third level linkages
Funding stream??
Recognition of research as a core function
National support structures for research
Balance between various kinds of
research
Summary
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Brief outline of HSE
Over view of transformation 
Thoughts on place of research 
Update on current processes 
• Thanks