GP internship

Title of internship assignment

Organisation: Vilans – Vakgroep Onderzoek & Validatie of Praktijkonderzoek & Toepasbare kennis

Location: Utrecht (partly from home)

Desired period of internship: April – Juli, semester 2b

The assignment

Wie is Vilans?

Vilans is the knowledge organisation for care and support. We combine practical experience with research-based knowledge to create practical resources that you can put to use straight away. In this way, we use knowledge to improve care even further, enabling people who need care and support to live the lives they want. https://www.vilans.nl

Digital Care is a key focus area within Vilans. A large number of research projects are being carried out here, alongside various exploratory studies into the potential of innovations. For example, Vilans is conducting research activities for the ‘Working Differently in Healthcare’ (Anders werken in de zorg) programme for the regions of Central Brabant, West Brabant and North-East Brabant. The mission of ‘Working Differently in Healthcare’ is to accelerate innovation in the sector. Within the programme, various healthcare organisations, both large and small, collaborate within a region to achieve the successful upscaling of innovations and to exchange knowledge. This results in a fruitful partnership, in which the organisations implement the technology and Vilans carries out the research. We are conducting this research using the “Waardewaaier”- methodology: https://www.vilans.nl/waardewaaier  to investigate the added value of innovations in healthcare practice.

Within this project, we have various potential assignments. In consultation with the student, we will discuss the options and select a suitable assignment.

Assigment 1: Smart Medical Equipment Management (Asset Tracking) For Dutch students Only

This year, around 15 healthcare organisations in Central, West and North-East Brabant will be implementing ‘Asset Tracking’ technology. This is a mobile application that facilitates the management of medical equipment within a healthcare organisation and provides healthcare staff with more information about the location of equipment. The equipment is fitted with tags. Some organisations are now starting to set up and implement smart asset management, whilst others are already scaling up and embedding its use. However, this is proving more difficult than expected because there are various stakeholders involved and the method and rationale for its use can also vary.

The project: the central question in this project is how the various healthcare organisations have set up Asset Tracking:  who plays which role in the process, and what can be learnt from other (international) healthcare contexts?

To answer this question, both a literature review and practical research are required. In the literature review, you will examine the following:

•    What constitutes smart medical equipment management? This includes identifying who is involved in this process and what is already known about it in other healthcare settings, such as hospitals, or internationally?
•    What are the differences between suppliers?

For the practical research, you will engage in discussions with medical device managers, purchasers, facilities staff and healthcare workers from healthcare organisations. Through interviews and interactive methods, you will identify.

• What does the work process of a medical device manager look like in practice, both in the current situation (without the application) and the desired situation (with the application)?
• At which stage of the process can the application contribute? And what are the expected effects of using the application?

The same will be done for the work process of healthcare staff.

Assignment 2: Observational study into voice-activated reporting in healthcare – does it really save time?

This study examines whether voice-activated reporting (VAR) helps healthcare staff to report more quickly and efficiently, thereby reducing the administrative burden. Whilst this has previously been investigated in a controlled environment, it is now being tested in everyday healthcare practice.

The central question in this project is: Does voice-activated reporting lead to demonstrable time savings and more efficient working in healthcare practice?

To answer this question, practical research is being carried out within healthcare teams, observing both staff who use VAR and those who do not (yet) use it.

·       You will help draw up an observation schedule and assist in carrying out the research
·       You will shadow healthcare staff during a full shift and observe how reports are produced.
·       You will measure how long reports take and look at differences in working methods and context between voice-controlled and typed reporting.
·       Your role is to carry out these observations carefully and to systematically record and analyse the results.

The projects within ‘Working Differently in Care’ will run until the end of 2026. A follow-up graduation project could potentially be linked to this.

Assignment 3 : AI Planning Software – Practice-oriented research into the scaling up of digital or hybrid care (Consortium with HAN University of Applied Sciences and healthcare organisations)

Long-term care providers are under significant pressure due to labour market shortages and increasing demand for care. To ensure the sustainability of the care system, care processes must be organised in a smarter and more efficient manner. Capacity management, via planning based on AI-based software, can play a key role in this. The objective of this project is to use practice-oriented implementation research to gain insight into the value of AI-based planning software in the daily care practice of the VVT (inpatient and outpatient), and into factors that promote or hinder successful implementation and scaling up.

Survey and interviews to map stakeholder experiences and implementation factors

Objective: To gather insights into perceptions, experiences and implementation barriers/enablers among various stakeholder groups.

You will contribute to:

•         Additional literature review (scoping – rapid review) and meta-analysis of previous research findings. A previous rapid review conducted for Digizo.nu will form the basis for the additional literature review. Information from the literature review will be used to inform the development of the survey.
•         Developing a survey for stakeholder groups, distributing and analysing the surveys. A tailored survey will be developed for different stakeholder groups, in line with the knowledge and expertise within each group.
•         Development of semi-structured interview protocols (to supplement survey results), conducting these interviews with the various stakeholder groups (managers, planners/schedulers, care teams) from different teams and organisations, and analysing the results.

General information:

Working method:

The internships form part of two larger projects (e.g. ‘Working Differently in Healthcare’ or the ZonMw consortium with HAN University of Applied Sciences and healthcare organisations), which means that, in addition to this specific assignment, you will also be involved in the day-to-day running of the project and can learn how project-based work is carried out at Vilans. You will also be able to take part in internal activities within the department and at Vilans.

What will you deliver?

The results of, for example, a literature or practical research study will be delivered in a report; the details of this will be agreed upon in consultation.

Who are you?

•    A Dutch or English-speaking student
•    You have an affinity with the use of technology in healthcare and want to learn more about it
•    You have experience with qualitative or quantitative research methods and enjoy conducting such research in everyday healthcare practice.

Contact person information:

Name: Rachelle Rinzema or Henk Herman nap
Telephone: +316 22810422
Email: r.rinzema@vilans.nl  h.nap@vilans.nl