Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Abstract
Substantial resources invested in biomedical research have generated revolutionary discoveries in medical science. However, it takes on average 17 years to turn about 14% of research findings into changes that benefit patients. Lack of scientist-physician partnership (SPP) is one main reason for the extremely slow translation of science into medical practice. Our previous study identified several institutional and socio-cultural barriers that hinder SPP and slow down knowledge transfer in medicine. However, the relationships among the identified factors, as well as the prevalence of their impacts on scientist-physician partnership and transfer of knowledge are not clear. This study focuses on the influence of institutional forces on SPP effectiveness. We hypothesized that institutional forces and arrangements such as academic promotion criteria and organizational infrastructure are related to partnership satisfaction and performance outcomes including clinical research related outcomes. We posit that communication effectiveness mediates the effect of institutional forces on the partnership satisfaction and outcomes. We surveyed 440 scientists and physicians to test these hypotheses. Our data reveals that the academic promotion criteria serves as an incentive and has a positive effect on communication, satisfaction on partnership effectiveness and academic outcomes as well as clinical outcomes. Access difficulty to collaborators as an indication of lack of organizational support has a direct negative impact on SPP effectiveness. Organizational collaboration mechanism has a positive effect on communication, and communication plays a critical role in SPP effectiveness. Communication mediates effects of institutional factors including academic incentives and organizational collaborative mechanism on the satisfaction and outcomes of partnership. Favorable institutional structures such as promotion and collaboration mechanism play a prominent role in SPP effectiveness. The study has several practical implications on how to foster physician and scientist collaboration. In addition, our study provides insights on effective collaboration and knowledge production and translation beyond healthcare system.
Keywords
academic-industrial collaboration, medical partnership, education, higher, communication, satisfaction, scientist-physician partnership, academic culture/incentive, organizational collaboration mechanism, scientists-physician partnership, academic culture/incentive, organizational collaboration mechanism, communication, satisfaction, partnership outcome
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Wang, Yunmei, "Institutional Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Scientist-Physician Partnerships in Biomedical Research" (2013). Student Scholarship. 257.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/257