Harkness Project Title: Transforming Services for High Performing Patient-centered Care: The Role of Leadership and Patient Engagement
Mentors: Thomas Delbanco, M.D.; Dana Safran, Sc.D.
Placement: Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Karen Luxford, Ph.D., a 2008–09 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is general manager of the Australian National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC), where she previously worked as program director and deputy director. At NBOCC, Luxford has overseen the development, implementation and evaluation of a number of large national programs and projects in a range of cancer care areas, including a recent large-scale program promoting multidisciplinary care for cancer patients. She is also editor of Clinical Update, a national evidence-based publication for clinicians treating women with breast cancer. Prior to joining NBOCC, she was publications manager at the National Centre for Classifications in Health at the University of Sydney, and a science writer for the NSW Health Department. Luxford's research interests include new models of care, promoting evidence-based best practice, and health services delivery, and her work has been published in government reports and in journals such as Cancer Causes and Control and the Medical Journal of Australia. She holds a Ph.D. in medical science from the University of Sydney.
Project: Karen Luxford aimed to identify critical factors for transforming services into high performance, patient-centered organizations, particularly the role of leadership, organizational culture, and patient engagement as drivers for improving patient experience. She undertook case studies at exemplar health care organizations (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, MCG Health Inc., Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Mills Peninsula Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente, and Group Health Cooperative), and conducted interviews with national experts.
Career Activity Since Fellowship
- Director, Patient Based Care, Clinical Excellence Commission, 2010
Current Position: Chief Executive Officer, Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (Updated 8/2017)
E-mail: [email protected]
Selected Publications:
Gauld R, Burgers J, Dobrow M, Minhas R, Wendt C, Cohen AB, Luxford K. Healthcare system performance improvement: a comparison of key policies in seven high-income countries. J Health Organ Manag. 2014;28(1):2-20. Luxford K and Sutton S. "How does patient experience fit into the overall healthcare picture?" Patient Experience Journal. 2014.
Gauld R, Burgers J, Dobrow M, Luxford K, Minhas R, Wendt C, Cohen AB. “Quality improvement, information technology and primary care can improve healthcare system performance. But are policy makers promoting them?” Int J Clin Pract. 2012.
Luxford K. “What does the patient know about quality?” Int J Qual Health Care. 2012.
Gauld R, Blank R, Burgers J, Cohen AB, Dobrow M, Ikegami N, Kwon S, Luxford K, Millett C, Wendt C., “The World Health Report 2008: Primary Healthcare: How wide is the gap between its agenda and implementation in 12 High-Income Health Systems?” Healthcare Policy. 2012.
Luxford K, Safran D, Delbanco T. “Promoting patient-centered care: a qualitative study of facilitators and barriers in healthcare organizations with a reputation for improving the patient experience.” Int J for Qual in Health Care. 2011.