Faculty

Christian Helfrich

Research Assistant Professor

PhD

University of North Carolina, 2005
Health Services

MPH

University of Washington, 2000
Health Services

Gonzaga University, 1998

Department of Health Services Program Affiliations:
- Master of Health Administration Program

Contact Information

1100 Olive Way, Suite 1400
Box: Mailstop S-152
Seattle, WA 98101
(voice) 206-277-1655
christian.helfrich@va.gov

Research Interests

Organizational behavior, organizational culture, innovation implementation, change management

Projects

Emergency Department Quality Enhancement Technical Assistance Project

Co-Investigator (Stephan D. Fihn, Principal Investigator). Development of a toolkit for dissemination to VHA facilities to improve quality of care for patients presenting to the emergency department with acute coronary syndrome and community acquired pneumonia. Completed in October 1997.

Acute Coronary Syndrome Study

(Stephen D. Fihn, Principal Investigator, Gregory Larsen, Co-PI) Evaluate structural and process components of change in cardiac care within VHA from October 2003 through September 2005. Qualitative interviews with VA facility staff involved in the Cardiac Care Initiative. A quantitative readiness-to-change survey and closed-ended follow-up survey on implementation events are also being completed.

Organizational culture and the VA cardiac initiative

Principal Investigator. Examining data on organizational culture from VHA employee survey conducted in 2004. The research has three objectives: 1) validate the organizational culture component of the survey, 2) test the association of organizational culture to changes in cardiac care process measures and mortality, and 3) describe differences between physician and nurse groups in perceptions of organizational culture adjusting for gender.

Measurement equivalence/invariance analysis of organizational culture

Principal Investigator. Assess the psychometric properties of a survey
instrument to measure organizational culture to determine measurement
equivalence of the instrument among employees of different supervisory
levels, between clinicians and non-clinician employees, and employees
from within the same medical centers over time. Data will come from the
2004 and 2006 VA All Employee Surveys.

Psychometric validation of an organizational readineww-to-change scale

Principal Investigator. Assess the psychometric properties of a survey
instrument to measure organizational readiness to change relative to
implementation of an evidence-based clinical practice, in order to
determine the reliability and validity of an instrument based on the
Promoting Action on Research in Health Services (PARIHS) conceptual
model. Validity will be assessed as a function of VA medical center
quality improvement activities following an initiative to improve care
processes and outcomes for patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Evaluating the Implementation of the VA Cardiovascular Assessment

Co-Principal Investigator. Evaluate implementation of VA Cardiovascular
Assessment Reporting and Tracking System for Cath Labs (CART-CL) among 75
VA medical centers with onsite cardiac catheterization. Identify high and
low implementing medical centers using catheterization laboratory
registry data and CART-CL data; conduct interviews with staff at high and
low implementation sites to identify, and compare and contrast
implementation policies and practices; and conduct a survey of sites to
identify technical and administrative barriers and facilitators to
CART-CL installation and use.

Selected Publications

McDermott, K, Helfrich, CD, Sales, AE, Rumsfeld, JS, Ho, MP, and Fihn, SD. Review Of Strategies To Improve Timely Reperfusion For Patients With St-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction. Journal of General Internal Medicine. (In press)

McDermott, KA, Maynard, C, Lowy, E, Sales, AE, Helfrich, CD, Fihn, S. (2007). "Outcomes for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) based on time to reperfusion therapy at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities." Circulation 115(21): E594-E594.

Helfrich, CD, Sharp, ND, Pineros, SL, Lowy, E, McDermott, KA, Sales, AE, Larsen, GC, and Fihn, SD. (2007). How Veterans Health Administration facilities have changed practices to improve care for patients with acute coronary syndromes. Circulation. 115(21): E591-E591.

Helfrich, CD, Savitz, LA, Swiger, KS, and Weiner, BJ. (2007). Adoption and implementation of diabetes registries by community health centers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 33(1S): S50-S65.

Weiner, BJ, Helfrich, CD, Savitz, LA and Swiger, KS. (2007). Adoption and Implementation of Strategies for Diabetes Management in Primary Care Practices. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 33(1S): S35-S49.

Cunningham-Sabo, L, Carpenter, WR, Peterson, J, Anderson, L, Helfrich, CD, Savitz, LA, and Davis, S. (2007). Utilization of Prevention Research: Searching for Evidence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 33(1S): S9-S20.

Davis, SM, Peterson, JC, Helfrich, CD, and Cunningham-Sabo, L. (2007). Introduction and Conceptual Model for Utilization of Prevention Research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 33(1S): S1-S5.

Helfrich, CD, Weiner, BJ, McKinney, MM and Minasian, L. (2007). Determinants of implementation effectiveness: Exploring an adapted model for complex innovations. Medical Care Research & Review. 64(3): 279-303.

Helfrich, CD, Mohr, D, Meterko, M, Li, YF and Sales, AE. (2007). Assessing an organizational culture instrument based on the Competing Values Framework: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Implementation Science. 2:13 (25 Apr 2007)

Sales, AE, and Helfrich, CD. (2006). Value in development of complex interventions. American Journal of Managed Care. 12(5):253-4.

Weiner, BJ, Helfrich, CD and Hernandez, SR (2006). Organizational innovation, change and learning. Health Care Management: Organization Design and Behavior, 5th Edition. S. M. Shortell, A. D. Kaluzny. New York, Delmar Thomson Learning.