The Value of Innovation to Implementation Program (VI²P): A strategic approach to aligning and leveraging academic research and clinical care missions

Problem: Inefficient implementation of evidence-based care garners increasing attention as a source of suboptimal value of clinical care, and integration of quality improvement methodology into clinical practice represents a potential solution. Academic medical centers (AMCs) often have expertise in implementation science, yet it is not leveraged effectively to solve operational inefficiencies or to rapidly implement evidence-based practices (EBPs). Approach: To leverage in-house research expertise, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Medicine and Center for Health Services Research (CHSR) launched a pilot awards program—Value of Innovation to Implementation Program (VI²P)—across its health system and six health professional colleges. Criteria for awards included a transdisciplinary research team and addressing health disparity issues faced by Kentucky. Outcome measures included EBP adoption and implementation and future funding. Outcomes: The VI²P produced 26 transdisciplinary teams that submitted letters of intent. Ten teams were invited to submit full proposal, and four projects were selected for award, spanning the entire continuum of health-impact research. Three nonawarded projects were implemented and prompted system redesign for an “implementation research living laboratory.” A Workgroup for ImplementatioN Science (WINS) was established to forge transdisciplinary teams to pursue federal grant funding yielding proposals totaling $17.17 million submitted, $4.38 million awarded, and $5.97 million under review. Junior faculty were encouraged to pursue implementation science as a research focus. Next Steps: UK WINS will continue serve as the hub for dissemination and implementation researchers at UK. On the basis of the enthusiasm expressed by multiple groups and many inquiries about the future training opportunities at UK, we plan to develop a tailored dissemination and implementation (D&I) training program to build research and practice capacity at UK.