We know from the literature that it can take up to 17 years for research findings to be used in healthcare practice for the benefit of patients. Reimagining how healthcare systems work can help accelerate how these research findings are used by those working at the bedside – and how actions taken at the bedside can be used as data that informs future practices. This cycle of using data to inform practice and practice to generate data is the basis of a Learning Health System (LHS) approach. An LHS approach integrates science, data and technology (i.e., informatics), and care culture to continuously create new knowledge and improve care for patients throughout their healthcare journeys.

Why Did We Develop This Questionnaire?

For any major change to be successful, the people–and in this case, organizations–implementing the change need to feel ready and willing to act. That is, members of an organization looking to adopt an LHS approach need to believe that adopting an LHS is important and that their organization can do so.

Through a literature search, our research team found that while the concept of an LHS has been well defined in the literature, very few tools discussed how organizations can assess their level of readiness to implement an LHS approach. Similarly, while several helpful tools exist to help individuals or organizations assess their readiness to undergo change, none of these tools are specific to the complexities of adopting an LHS approach. Therefore, our team sought to develop and test a questionnaire that is intended to help healthcare organizations assess their current level of readiness to implement an LHS approach.

How Should Our Organization Use This LHS Implementation Readiness Questionnaire?

This assessment is intended to be formative. It will help you reflect on whether members of your organization value an LHS approach and are ready to embrace this change. By completing this questionnaire, you should gain a better understanding of how ready your organization currently is to adopt an LHS approach and what are the logical next steps for your organization based on your responses.

Completing this questionnaire can help your organization identify what you have done and what you are ready to do in terms of LHS implementation. It can be completed by one or several members of your organization, or in consultation with your organization’s Interested Parties (e.g., healthcare and social service manager, professionals, patients and caregivers).

What Happens After Our Organization Completes This Questionnaire?

In this questionnaire, you will be asked to reflect on how much your organizational members value this change, what tasks must be completed, what resources you have available to you, and what situational factors (e.g., time, political environment) may influence LHS implementation. Higher scores on each item may represent a higher level of readiness in this area, while lower scores may represent areas where improvements may be made to achieve increased readiness.