To expedite the generation of evidence for using PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance, a Community of Practice should be established, including participation from the full range of stakeholders. This Community of Practice would continue collaboration to identity valuable activities to advance knowledge and practice, support efficient dissemination of research results, support the development of methods for the implementation of PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance, and enable practitioners and researchers to draw on the knowledge and experience of leaders in the field.
Communities of Practice (CoPs) draw on the knowledge and experience of a wide range of stakeholders in a given healthcare domain to advance research, identify best practices, and support collaboration to identify and solve problems.60-63 The potential for better shared knowledge and other advancements are currently limited by silos within research and clinical focus. Further, research findings are reported in the published literature, but lack the nuances of development and implementation that a CoP could bring to bear. Development of a Community of Practice to support the use of PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance should aim to bring together individuals currently working in this domain, as well as others (e.g., patients) who have a vested interest in the advancement of the field. Stakeholders express the urgent need to leverage work that is currently underway to expedite evidence generation, scale research to multi-site trials, increase sampling of underrepresented groups, and build consensus around interpretation of PGHD in diagnosing SSI. A preliminary infrastructure for development of a Community of Practice exists; members of the ASSIST Scientific Board and PGHD Stakeholder Advisory Group. Stakeholders report a desire to develop a framework for ongoing collaboration that could support the formation of a CoP. Stakeholder discussions identified topics that a CoP should address, including illuminating roadblocks, identifying opportunities for data sharing, and creating standard definitions and core outcome measures for PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance.
A CoP for use of PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance could address the following:
Discovery of what has not worked in implementations of PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance. This data is not typically reported in the literature, though understanding the nature of “failed” implementations is critical to successfully expanding programs past the trial/pilot phase. One function of a Community of Practice should be to discover and share these “lessons learned” in a setting that is conducive to honest exploration of the barriers and obstacles faced.
Include a broad range of people, representing varied expertise and experience. Advancement of PGHD captured via mHealth for SSI surveillance will benefit from the knowledge provided by a varied group of stakeholder including the spectrum of care providers who diagnose or treat SSI (e.g., surgeons, primary care providers, ER physicians, advance practice nurses); healthcare administrators; payers; public health officials; IT developers, designers, and other industry representatives; and patients from a diverse range of backgrounds (e.g., SSI history, tech knowledge, demographic markers).