As the US health care system works under increasingly complex and dynamic circumstances, we need proven approaches to support the uptake of evidence-based strategies into practice. With the movement toward more personalized and patient-centered care, a better understanding of patient experiences and implementation drivers is also needed. Implementation science has a fundamental role in supporting these efforts.  

Currently, gaps exist between research and practice in every setting and disease area. By using implementation science approaches, we can study interventions that promote the uptake and use of evidence in different settings and understand the key barriers and facilitators to uptake. We can also design and test different ways to scale interventions to enhance care delivery and improve quality and patient satisfaction.  

The NORC Health Implementation Science Center supports clinicians, researchers, and policymakers by conducting rigorous research that encourages the adoption and uptake of evidence-based interventions into practice. NORC has partnered with federal funders, states, and delivery systems to implement multiple national patient safety and quality projects in hospitals, nursing homes, and primary care, leading recruitment, implementation, and assessment activities.  

NORC’s multi-disciplinary team includes experts in medicine, epidemiology, sociology, informatics, and biostatistics. The team brings deep expertise in how to translate research into practice, scale interventions in different settings, and assess the impact through rigorous mixed-methods evaluation design, data collection, and analysis.