Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare

Established in 2010 as the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare (IEBH) delivers world-class research, engagement and training that serves as a national and international resource for scholars, clinicians, system leaders, patients and families in the implementation of evidence-based clinical care.

The transition from Centre to Institute in 2019 enabled the IEBH to expand its research function to provide advisory services based on sustainable, evidence-based healthcare and to facilitate research-informed policy and practice.

The effective integration of research into practice contributes to the health and healthcare of Australians, influences health policy and improves global health outcomes.

(From L to R) Professor Tim Brailsford – Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Glasziou AO – Director of the Institute, Professor Nick Zwar – Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at the Institute Launch in June 2019.

Key focus areas

To undertake research that more closely aligns evidence and patient care.
To support and extend collaborations between clinicians and health researchers to achieve higher value care.
To enable patients and families to make evidence-informed health decisions that are congruent with their values and preferences.
To lead and facilitate the teaching and learning of evidence-based practice.
To develop young researchers for research programs in sustainable healthcare.

Our research

The Institute’s research focuses on four significant yet largely ignored issues that impact healthcare globally:

Antibiotic resistance: Antibiotic resistance currently causes 30,000 avoidable deaths per year in Europe and the USA, and will overtake the global deathrate of cancer in 2050. Current research focusses on the key obstacles that prevent the reduction of antibiotic use in Australian primary care.
Overdiagnosis: The Institute is a national and international leader in understanding and addressing the problems that occur when commonly used, correct diagnoses in health and medical care do more harm than good. IEBH research examines the key drivers of overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment, which threatens to harm health and health system sustainability.
Neglected non-pharmaceutical treatments: IEBH research investigates why non-pharmaceutical treatments such as exercise, psychotherapy, physical therapy, manual procedures and self-management are under-used in healthcare, despite being just as, or more effective and safer than their drug counterparts.
Waste in medical research: It is estimated that avoidable design flaws, non-publication and inadequate reporting renders over 85% of research a wasted effort. The Institute’s focus is to understand and ameliorate these issues by looking at poor research reporting – particularly its consequences for non-pharmaceutical interventions – and developing automation tools that improve the speed of evidence synthesis.

Resources

Research highlights

Publications

Community impacts

The Institute of Evidence-Based Healthcare has made significant contributions both nationally and abroad.

The Institute was commissioned to conduct a Telehealth Review in 2020-21 which subsequently informed the Australian Government’s permanent implementation of telehealth from 1 January 2022 – described in the Government’s 2022-23 Budget as the “most significant structural reform to Medicare since it began”. Telehealth has improved healthcare access for all Australians and has been enthusiastically adopted: In 2022 alone, Australians accessed more than 44.5million telehealth consultations.

The previous Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) in Minimising Antibiotic Resistance for Acute Respiratory Infections (2012-2018) raised global awareness and has contributed to national and international policy regarding the causes, effects and necessity to reduce antibiotic resistance.
Through the Wiser Healthcare research collaboration with other leading Australian Universities, the Institute has contributed to the development of a National Action Plan to Prevent Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment in Australia.
In collaboration with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Institute initiated the Handbook of Non-Drug Interventions (HANDI), a comprehensive online listing of non-drug interventions that have solid evidence in their effectiveness.
The Institute coordinates the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) involving 50+ members from 8 countries.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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A message from our director

"Our team delivers world-class research, engagement and training that serves as a national and international resource for scholars, clinicians, system leaders, patients and families to improve evidence-based healthcare. The effective integration of research into practice advances the health and healthcare of Australians, influences health policy and improves global health outcomes."

Professor Paul Glasziou AO - Institute Director

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Grants and funding

The Institute has also been commissioned for external contracts from a variety of agencies including the Agency for Clinical Innovation, The Heart Foundation, World Health Organisation, and the Medical Research Future Fund.

Learn more about our Institute's grants and funding.

NHMRC Investigator Grants
NHMRC Investigator Grants
- Investigator Leadership Fellowship: Professor Paul Glasziou AO - Neglected Problems in Health Care: $2,701,595.00 (1/1/2020-31/12/2024)
- Investigator Research Fellowship: Professor Tammy Hoffmann OAM - Using Shared Decision Making to Improve the Appropriateness of Healthcare for Individuals and the System (1/1/2019—31/3/2025)
- Investigator and Emerging Leadership Fellow: Assistant Professor Loai Albarqouni - Optimising the Uptake of Effective Underused Non-Drug Evidence-Based Interventions in Primary Care (1/1/2022-31/12/2026)
NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence
NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence
- Wiser Healthcare: Better Value for all Australians: $2,500,000 (3/1/2022 - 31/12/2026)
- Wiser Woundcare: Investing in High Volume, High Risk Woundcare Centre of Research Excellence: $2,500,000 (1/1/2021 - 31/12/2025)
- Centre of Research Excellence in Minimising Antibiotic Resistance in the Community (CRE-MARC): $2,499,728.50 (27/11/2018 - 31/10/2024)
Other funding
Other funding
- GCHHS EBP Unit: Extension Conjoint Program; $1,000,000 (1/01/2021 - 30/06/2026)
- Heart Foundation: Dr. Loai Albarqouni - A novel strategy for improving the prescription of effective non-drug interventions for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease in primary care - the 'e-HANDI': a codesign and feasibility trial.: $75,000 (1/04/2023- 31/03/2024)
- 2023 HSM Early Career Researcher Seed Grant: Dr Mina Bakhit - A mixed-methods study of general practitioners' current knowledge, awareness, and practices around clinical prediction rules in Australian general practice
- MRFF Primary Health Care Digital Innovations: Dr Oyuka Byambasuren CI - The NOTUS trial (Non-Pharmacological Treatment for Chronic Low Back Pain Using Digital Health Technology); $1,614,405 (1/01/2023-31/12/2027)

Awards

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Explore

Learn more about our Institute

Latest articles

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IEBH Newsletter 2, 2023

Welcome to the Institute's final newsletter for 2023. Dive into a year of incredible achievements with us as we celebrate our impact, awards, and global recognition, upcoming events and an array of ne

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