John Ovretveit

John Ovretveit

Professor Emeritus
Telephone: +46852483935
Visiting address: Widerströmska huset, Tomtebodavägen 18A, 17165 Solna
Postal address: C7 Lärande, Informatik, Management och Etik, C7 MMC Savage, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • Director of Research, Professor of Health Innovation Implementation and Evaluation.

    My applied research is into organisation, management and policy. My recent work concerns adaptive implementation and evaluation and combining quality improvement and implementation science. Projects include co-care, integration and coordination of services, and emergency medicine organisation and management.

    Education
    B.Sc. (Hons First class), MPhil., PhD., CPsychol., AFBPsS, CSci..

    Academic honours, awards and prizes
    Translations of some of Johns 400 scientific papers and books have been made into eight languages. Six books have won publications awards, including twice winner of the European Health Management Association Award and the Baxter health publication of the year prize for "Action Evaluation" (2002) and "Health Service Quality" (1992).

    He was awarded the 2014 Avedis Donabedian international quality award for his work on quality economics and has served for 12 years as a board member of the USA joint commission international and is chair of their healthcare quality and safety standards committee. He is founder and chair of the Quality Improvement Research Network; a board member of the Global Implementation Initiative and chair of the Global Implementation Society. He currently chairs the UK selection panel for the future program of applied collaborative research University-NHS partnerships.

Research

  • Evaluation, quality and safety improvement, implementationon science, health management policy and reforms, clinical coordination and integration of services.

    My work is based on the belief that organisation and management can bring out the best and worst in people, and that the right organisation design is critical for effective healthcare. A theme underlying my work is how practical research can contribute both to better care for patients and to "healthy work organization".

    I have pioneered action evaluation methods for giving rapid feedback for service providers and policy-makers to improve their services, and for assessing the role of context on implementation. My current research examines implementation of management and organisation improvements, and clinical care coordination for safety and lower costs. My research publications on leading value improvement explore the costs and savings of quality improvements.

Teaching

  • Courses on implementation and scale up, and on evaluating complex interventions in real world settings.

    MMC leaders courses including:

    Using lessons from overseas to build evidence-based Swedish healthcare

    Pay for performance and value based healthcare: evidence and implications for your services

    Patient centered care and co-care: evidence and practical steps with limited resources

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 December 2018 - 30 November 2026
    As the prevalence of chronic illness increases, the demands on healthcare services change. The few hours per year that persons with chronic conditions see healthcare professionals represent a mere fraction of their 24/7 lived experience of coping with their condition. Without patient participation no treatment can be carried out
    thus healthcare services are co-produced. This reality requires a shift from professional-oriented care toward patient-oriented supported self-care. Co-care refers to the decisions and activities shared by patients, their informal caregivers, and professionals, aimed at achieving goals valued by the patient. Consequently, in contrast to involve patients in healthcare, healthcare needs to get involved in people’s self-care, to the extent that the patient needs and desires. Making this shift, however, has been challenging for health care practice.Given this implementation gap, the current program is based on five patient-driven co-care innovations and aims to study how new models of self-care and co-care are best implemented in everyday health care practice and patients’ lives, supported by eHealth. This program is collaboration with patients, their informal caregivers and healthcare providers, to ensure that the research meets patients’ needs. The program is conducted in two phases studying: 1) the implementation of the five patient-driven co-care innovations and the development of patient-valued outcome measures and 2) the impact of the co-care innovations on clinical practice, care organization and patient-valued outcomes, the spread and scaling up of the innovations and production of best practice guidelines. Multiple research designs (e.g. comparative case studies, participatory workshops, adaptive intervention design) will be used. The program generates knowledge that enables people with chronic conditions, their informal caregivers and formal healthcare providers to effectively engage in co-care.

Employments

  • Professor Emeritus, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 2025-2028
  • Professor, Senior, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 2019-2025
  • Professor, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 2007-2019
  • Professor, medical school, University of Bergen, 1998-2008
  • Professor, Health policy management and organisation, Health policy management and organisation, Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg (NHV), 1994-2004

Distinction and awards

  • Avedis Donabedian quality award 2014, “The jury announced and explained their decision with the following statement Professor Øvretveit is a world leader in the area of research on Policy and Management who personifies commitment to Health Services development. His leadership is evident in the crucial contribution he is making in transforming Health systems all over the world and engaging young researchers in this field. In times were we are faced to a substantial limitation of our health budget his studies in quality and costs, the role of professionals and new approach to leadership skills are crucial to achieve a system that is patients’ oriented and sustainable. As a result, he is clearly an outstanding leader and advocate for quality in healthcare, Avedis Donabedian Quality Foundation, 2023
  • Best pulication of the year award, 2002 award for best European management publication/project, by European Health Management Association, and winner Baxter Healthcare Publication of the year ($5000) for the book Action Evaluation, as well as commendation in the Medical Book Competition of the British Medical Association. Prize donated to start and fund an annual Karolinska/EHMA best junior researcher publication of the year award., European management publication/project, European Health Management Association, and winner Baxter Healthcare Publication of the year ($5000) for the book Action Evaluation, as well as commendation in the Medical Book Competition of the British Medical Association, 2002
  • Baxter European health care publication of the year award, For the book Health Service Quality, Blackwells Scientific Press, Oxford, Baxter (United States), 1992

Committee work

  • Member, Board of Directors the USA Joint Commission International and Joint Commission Resources, Joint Commission, 2006-2016

Visiting research fellowships

  • Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2011-2023

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