Table 3 Comparison of implementation strategies in the ISAC compilation to the ERIC compilation

Assist with dissemination:

Offer coaching, mentoring, or other support to aid in sharing results through multiple channels

None

Assist with selecting EBIs:

Provide options and assistance for choosing the best-fit EBIs

None

Build partner relationships:

Invest time to build long-term relationships with community partners

None

Change adaptable program components:

Tailor the program through fidelity-consistent changes to meet the needs of the priority population or setting

Promote adaptability: Identify the ways a clinical innovation can be tailored to meet local needs and clarify which elements of the innovation must be maintained to preserve fidelity

Change delivery agent roles:

Alter roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers to enhance EBI fit and support implementation

Revise professional roles: Shift and revise roles among professionals who provide care, and redesign job characteristics

Change program delivery site:

Move programs to different locations or partner organization sites to improve EBI fit or reach

Change service sites: Change the location of clinical service sites to increase access

Change programming focus:

Collaboratively prioritize EBIs that align with priorities and can demonstrate impact

None

Choose strategic partner organizations:

Partner with organizations that have complementary expertise to share resources

None

Conduct demonstration events:

Short-term environmental changes to assess use and gather community member feedback

Model and simulate change: Model or simulate the change that will be implemented prior to implementation.

Conduct fidelity checks:

Measure fidelity to assess whether the EBI is being implemented as designed

Develop and implement tools for quality monitoring: Develop, test, and introduce into quality-monitoring systems the right input—the appropriate language, protocols, algorithms, standards, and measures (of processes, patient/consumer outcomes, and implementation outcomes) that are often specific to the innovation being implemented.

Develop and organize quality monitoring systems: Develop, test, and introduce into quality-monitoring systems the right input—the appropriate language, protocols, algorithms, standards, and measures (of processes, patient/consumer outcomes, and implementation outcomes) that are often specific to the innovation being implemented.

Conduct needs assessment:

Use qualitative or quantitative methods to understand needs of the priority population and EBI implementers

Conduct local needs assessment: Collect and analyze data related to the need for the innovation

Conduct pragmatic evaluation: Evaluate success through methods that fit the evidence-based intervention (EBI), personnel, and setting

None

Connect practitioners with experts:

Facilitate external connections to help with program implementation or evaluation

Use an implementation advisor: Seek guidance from experts in implementation

Develop academic partnerships: Partner with a university or academic unit for the purposes of shared training and bringing research skills to an implementation project

Work with educational institutions: Encourage educational institutions to train clinicians in the innovation.

Create program guide:

Create a playbook, blueprint, or guide describing how to implement the EBI

Develop a formal implementation blueprint: Develop a formal implementation blueprint that includes all goals and strategies. The blueprint should include: (1) aim/purpose of the implementation; (2) scope of the change (e.g., what organizational units are affected); (3) timeframe and milestones; and (4) appropriate performance/progress measures. Use and update this plan to guide the implementation effort over time.

Design pragmatic programs:

Develop programs that are low cost, easy to implement, and relevant to multiple populations

None

Develop a coalition or workgroup:

Build diverse groups, including partner organizations, community members, and elected officials

Build a coalition: Recruit and cultivate relationships with partners in the implementation effort

Use advisory boards and workgroups: Create and engage a formal group of multiple kinds of stakeholders to provide input and advice on implementation efforts and to elicit recommendations for improvements.

Develop adaptable programs:

Ensure programs are adaptable to meet the needs of organizations and priority populations

None

Develop structured curriculum:

Develop structured curriculum, including lessons plans and other content, for program implementers

None

Engage community members:

Share information about the EBI and seek community member input

Involve patients/consumers and family members: Engage or include patients/consumers and families in the implementation effort.

Obtain and use patients/consumers and family feedback: Develop strategies to increase patient/consumer and family feedback on the implementation effort.

Engage potential partners:

Use networking, relationships, or outreach events to share information about the EBI with potential partners

Conduct educational outreach visits: Have a trained person meet with providers in their practice settings to educate providers about the clinical innovation with the intent of changing the provider’s practice.

Enhance staffing:

Consider a staffing plan that facilitates high-quality, consistent delivery of the EBI

None

Facilitate implementation:

Offer assistance on the implementation process through an interactive, supportive relationship

Facilitation: A process of interactive problem solving and support that occurs in a context of a recognized need for improvement and a supportive interpersonal relationship.

Facilitate peer learning:

Set up networking and collaborating opportunities for implementers to learn from peers

Create a learning collaborative: Facilitate the formation of groups of providers or provider organizations and foster a collaborative learning environment to improve implementation of the clinical innovation.

Capture and share local knowledge: Capture local knowledge from implementation sites on how implementers and clinicians made something work in their setting and then share it with other sites.

Incentivize delivery agents:

Incentivize program implementers through payment structures or other rewards

Alter incentive/allowance structures: Work to incentivize the adoption and implementation of the clinical innovation.

Leverage funding sources:

Access new funding, use creative or untraditional funding sources, or combine funding sources

Access new funding: Access new or existing money to facilitate the implementation

Leverage program champions:

Identify and prepare staff and volunteers with high readiness (e.g., influence and attitude)

Identify and prepare champions: Identify and prepare individuals who dedicate themselves to supporting, marketing, and driving through an implementation, overcoming indifference or resistance that the intervention may provoke in an organization

Meet community partners’ needs:

Select or adapt programs to respond to community partners’ needs, concerns, or resources

None

Meet participants’ needs:

Address participants’ needs to increase engagement

Intervene with patients/consumers to enhance uptake and adherence: Develop strategies with patients to encourage and problem solve around adherence.

Plan for sustainability:

Set up funding structures to support program maintenance, and work with implementing sites to provide resources and support to continue the EBI

None

Provide technical assistance:

Offer guidance (including through external organizations) on implementing an EBI

Provide local technical assistance: Develop and use a system to deliver technical assistance focused on implementation issues using local personnel

Provide ongoing consultation: provide ongoing consultation with one or more experts in the strategies used to support implementing the innovation

Centralize technical assistance: Develop and use a centralized system to deliver technical assistance focused on implementation issues.

Provide training: Train staff, volunteers, or partner organizations on the EBI

Conduct ongoing training: Plan for and conduct training in the clinical innovation in an ongoing way

Make training dynamic: Vary the information delivery methods to cater to different learning styles and work contexts, and shape the training in the innovation to be interactive

Provide resources:

Develop and share resources to enhance program delivery

Develop educational materials: Develop and format manuals, toolkits, and other supporting materials in ways that make it easier for stakeholders to learn about the innovation and for clinicians to learn how to deliver the clinical innovation.

Distribute educational materials: Distribute educational materials (including guidelines, manuals and toolkits) in person, by mail, and/or electronically.

Reassess inclusion criteria:

Promote broad reach by reducing exclusion criteria

None

Review performance and provide feedback:

Review performance or evaluation results and provide feedback to facilitate improvements

Audit and provide feedback: Collect and summarize clinical performance data over a specified time period and give it to clinicians and administrators to monitor, evaluate, and modify provider behavior.

Facilitate relay of clinical data to providers: Provide as close to real-time data as possible about key measures of process/outcomes using integrated modes/channels of communication in a way that promotes use of the targeted innovation.

Structure grant requirements:

Develop requests for applications that prioritize EBI with high reach to priority populations

None

Tailor recruitment strategies:

Use and adapt multiple recruitment methods to align with the priority populations’ language, culture, or preferences

None

Train the trainer:

Train implementers or volunteers to train others to implement EBIs.

Use train-the-trainer strategies: Train designated clinicians or organizations to train others in the clinical innovation.

Use formal agreements with partners:

Establish memorandums of understanding (MOUs), policies, or other agreements to share space and ensure supports are available.

Develop resource sharing agreements: Develop partnerships with organizations that have resources needed to implement the innovation

Obtain formal commitments: Obtain written commitments from key partners that state what they will do to implement the innovation.

Use reimbursement systems:

Advocate for or establish systems for payors (insurers, employers) to reimburse EBI costs

Fund and contract for the clinical innovation: Governments and other payers of services issue requests for proposals to deliver the innovation, use contracting processes to motivate providers to deliver the clinical innovation, and develop new funding formulas that make it more likely that providers will deliver the innovation.

Place innovation on fee for service lists/formularies: Work to place the clinical innovation on lists of actions for which providers can be reimbursed (e.g., a drug is placed on a formulary, a procedure is now reimbursable).

Use technology for evaluation:

Use or develop apps, websites, or databases to facilitate improve data collection and sharing

None