📄 Category

health systems and quality improvement

98 papers

Improving health systems means finding smarter ways to deliver care, reduce errors, and ensure patients receive the best possible treatment. This field explores how hospitals and clinics can function more effectively, focusing on the practical changes that lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. It is less about discovering new drugs and more about refining the everyday processes that keep our healthcare networks running smoothly.

At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint in this category from medRxiv to bring you the latest research immediately. Our team processes these papers to provide both detailed technical summaries for experts and clear, plain-language explanations for anyone interested in how healthcare can improve. We believe that understanding these systemic changes is vital for building a more resilient future.

Below are the latest studies and insights from the health systems and quality improvement community, sorted by their recent submission dates.

📄 health systems and quality improvement

Validation of Registry-Based Indicators for Postdiagnostic Antibiotic Decisions in Pediatric Febrile Urinary Tract Infection

This study validates rule-based registry indicators for monitoring postdiagnostic antibiotic decisions in pediatric febrile urinary tract infections, demonstrating that while these measures capture overall prescribing patterns, they underestimate guideline concordance and require calibration against clinician-reviewed data to improve accuracy for antimicrobial stewardship.

Garpvall, K., Aljundi, A., Dahl, A., Sterky, E., Luthander, J., Sutterlin, S.2026-03-23
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Why Primary Care Clinicians use Advice and Guidance: A qualitative study

This qualitative study of English primary care clinicians reveals that while Advice and Guidance (A&G) is utilized to support decision-making and manage complex cases, its effectiveness is heavily contingent on timely, clinically relevant responses and the resolution of barriers such as delayed feedback and concerns over equitable workload distribution.

Faux-Nightingale, A., Harrison, R., Burton, C., Bajpai, R., Clarson, L. E., Hadley-Barrows, T., Haines, J., Helliwell, T (…)2026-03-20
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Performance optimization of an R Shiny-based digital health dashboard for monitoring small and sick newborn care in low-resource hospital settings

This study demonstrates that applying targeted R Shiny optimization strategies to the NEST-IT digital health dashboard significantly reduced latency and improved system reliability, thereby enabling timely access to critical neonatal care data in resource-constrained hospitals across sub-Saharan Africa.

Thomas, J., Jenkins, G., Chen, J., Ogero, M., Malla, L., Hirschhorn, L. R., Richards-Kortum, R., Oden, Z. M., Bohne, C. (…)2026-03-19
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Building budgeting capacity of Health Facility Managers to enhance facility financial autonomy: lessons from Nakuru county, Kenya.

This qualitative case study of Nakuru County, Kenya, demonstrates that enhancing health facility financial autonomy through budgeting capacity building requires a sustained, multi-year, and adaptive approach that tailors support to facility levels, combines training with standardized tools, and embeds strong monitoring and leadership mechanisms.

Ochieng, H., Macharia, F., Mugambi, J., Nguhiu, P., Ndungu, S., Nekesa, C., Ogola, T., Amunga, D., Simiyu, G., Kamanda (…)2026-03-19
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Treatment of malignant melanoma in certified cancer centres and its relationship to survival

This study of nearly 48,000 German melanoma patients demonstrates that treatment in certified cancer centres is associated with significantly improved overall and disease-free survival compared to non-certified hospitals, highlighting the value of evidence-based quality standards while underscoring the need to expand access to such high-quality care.

Schoffer, O., Piontek, D., Meier, F., Hunter, A., Schneider, C., Sackmann, A., Manz, K., Reinwald, F., Thies, S., Franke (…)2026-03-17
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Assessing Factors Affecting Readiness for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Services, Ethiopia SPA Survey 2021-22

Utilizing 2021-22 Ethiopia Service Provision Assessment data and principal component analysis, this study reveals significant regional and facility-level disparities in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health service readiness, highlighting critical gaps in resources, staffing, and infrastructure that necessitate targeted investments to ensure equitable access to quality care.

Church, R. L., Girma, F., Mussema, Y., Abelti, G., Shewarega, A.2026-03-13
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Design of a Secure Wearable Health Data Sharing Platform for Region Hovedstaden: A FHIR DK and GDPR-Compliant Service Architecture

This paper proposes a GDPR-compliant, FHIR DK-standardized microservice architecture for Region Hovedstaden to securely integrate continuous wearable health data into the national electronic health record, addressing interoperability gaps and building on stakeholder-identified trust factors to enable safe data sharing.

Chowdhury, A., Irtiza, A.2026-03-13
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Stakeholder Perspectives on Brain Tumor Care Across Rural-Urban Boundaries: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

This reflexive thematic analysis of 36 stakeholders in a regionalized Canadian health system reveals that while localized care for brain tumors demonstrates strengths like responsive palliative integration and provider commitment, systemic fragmentation at the interfaces between tertiary centers and community services creates critical barriers to care continuity, highlighting the urgent need for standardized pathways and cross-organizational coordination to serve geographically dispersed populations.

Sharma, A., Andrews, K., Calvert, E., Howran, J., Shore, R., Purzner, J., Purzner, T.2026-03-11
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Identifying High-Need Patient Profiles That Respond to Intensive Care Management: Insights from the Camden Health Care Hotspotting RCT

This study utilized latent class analysis on a randomized controlled trial to identify distinct high-need patient subgroups, revealing that tailored intensive care management significantly reduced readmissions and emergency visits for specific profiles, thereby suggesting that segmenting patients by medical, behavioral, and social risk factors can enhance the effectiveness of complex care interventions.

Prakash, S., Wiest, D., Balasubramanian, H. J., Truchil, A.2026-03-09
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Preparing for the Future: A Mixed Methods Study Protocol on AI Awareness and Educational Integration in Qatars Primary Health Care Workforce.

This mixed-methods study protocol outlines a comprehensive plan to assess AI awareness, attitudes, and educational needs among Qatar's primary healthcare workforce, aiming to develop an evidence-based readiness framework and training roadmap to facilitate the effective and ethical integration of artificial intelligence in primary care.

Syed, M. A., Alnuaimi, A. S., El Kaissi, D. B., Syed, M. A.2026-03-07