Harkness Project Title:                  

Hearing the Patient’s Voice? Qualitative Case Study of Barriers to Using Patient Feedback and Survey Data in Quality Improvement

Mentor: Paul Cleary, Ph.D.

Placement: Harvard Medical School

Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Elizabeth Davies, a 2003-04 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is senior lecturer at the Thames Cancer Registry, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, London. Her responsibilities include research and liaison with Cancer Networks in the Thames Region. She coordinated the development and editing of two reports on Palliative Care in collaboration with the European Office of the World Health Organisation. Davies has also developed policy for less common cancers at the Department of Health, evaluated the health technology appraisal program at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and worked on the implementation of the Calman-Hine Report for Cancer Services at local health authorities. Her research has included an extensive study of the experience of patients with brain tumors and their families, and she coordinated the development of guidelines for best practice for their care at the Royal College of Physicians.

Project: Davies’ study aimed to identify the barriers faced by senior health professionals in using patient feedback and survey data in quality improvement.  The study consisted of case studies of improvement efforts at eight health care organizations before and after they formed a patient experience collaborative.  She conducted interviews with team leaders and members on the barriers to patient-centered care, both before and after they had formed the collaborative.

Career Activity Since Fellowship

• Reader in Cancer Registration, Thames Cancer Registry, King’s College, London, 2009
• Medical Director, Thames Cancer Registry, King’s College, London, 2008
• Senior Lecturer in Cancer Registration, Thames Cancer Registry
• Honorary Consultant in Public Health, Lambeth Primary Care Trust, King’s College, London, 2004

Current Position: Reader in Cancer Registration, King's College London (Updated January 2012)

E-Mail: elizabeth.davies@kcl.ac.uk

Harkness-Related Publications

 Davies E, Shaller D, Edgman-Levitan S, Safran DG, Oftedahl G, Sakowski J, Cleary P.  Using the CAHPS® Survey to Support Improvements in Patient-Centred care: Lessons from a Collaborative,” Health Expectations; 2008.

Davies E, Van der Molen B, Cranston A.  “Using Audit and Feedback From Patients and General Practitioners to Decrease Delay in the Referral of Patients with Suspected Colorectal Cancer,”  Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2007; 13(2): 310-319.

Davies E, Cleary PD. “Hearing the Patient’s Voice? Factors Affecting the Use of Patient Survey Data in Quality Improvement,” Quality and Safety in Health Care 2005; 14:428-432.

Davies E. What Are The Palliative Care Needs Of Older People And How Might They Be Met? Health Evidence Network of the European Office of the World Health Organisation 2004. http://www.euro.who.int/eprise/main/WHO/Progs/HEN?Syntheses/200308201.

Davies E, Higginson IJ (eds) Palliative Care – The Solid Facts.  European Office of the World Health Organisation 2004. http://www.euro.who.int/document/E82931.pdf

 Davies E, Higginson IJ (eds) Better Palliative Care for Older People. European Office of the World Health Organisation 2004 http://www.euro.who.int/document/E82933.pdf

Davies E, Philpot M. “God’s Waiting Room: How Do Older People View Day Hospital Care for Affective Disorder?” International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2004; 19:592-593.