Research & Continuing Education External Funding

Independent Medical Education:

• Providing comprehensive training on the different types and applications of adjunctive hemostatic surgical products, adhesion prevention products, and surgical sealants.
• Educating surgeons on the proper techniques and best practices for using adjunctive hemostatic surgical products to achieve meticulous hemostasis in daily surgical procedures.
• Offering hands-on workshops or simulation training to enhance surgeons' skills in utilizing adjunctive hemostatic surgical products, adhesion prevention products and surgical sealants.

Investigator Initiated Research:

• Focus is on all products within Advanced Surgery that can address challenges faced during surgical procedures; specifically, hepatic, pancreatic, general surgery, lung, bariatric, cardiovascular, microvascular, colorectal, obstetric, gynecologic, neurologic and spine related procedures. We seek to assess relationships among, or between, intervention, clinical outcome and the health-economic value for these procedures.
• Studies exploring the clinical utility of the Validated Intraoperative Bleeding (VIBe) Scale as a tool to enhance operating room (OR) team communication and in selecting the correct hemostatic product for the appropriate bleed, as well as strategies to evaluate and mitigate post-operative adhesions.
• Studies focused on Active versus Passive agents when choosing an appropriate product for a given bleed.
• Innovative Use of Our Products to Mitigate Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiothoracic Surgery. We invite submissions that investigate the application, efficacy, and safety of our products—either individually or in combination—to reduce the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) following cardiothoracic procedures.

Note: It is desirable to receive concept proposals which are retrospective chart reviews and/or registries with small sample size, single center studies, and focusing on disease areas of importance to Baxter’s Advanced Surgery Global Business Unit. Randomized controlled trials will also be considered based on the proposal’s individual merits.

Infusion Systems (Medication Delivery):

Independent Medical Education:

• Best practices related to integration of infusion pumps
• Best practices for utilizing Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) data
• Best practices for using syringe pumps
• Challenges related to full delivery of residual volumes of prescribed therapies and provide guidance on best practices

Investigator Initiated Research:

• Clinical, operational or health economic outcomes research associated with smart pumps Preference will be given to proposals focusing on artificial intelligence, integration, and CQI data.
• Clinical and healthcare economics outcome research associated with low volume infusion sets.

Clinical Nutrition, Pharmacy Tools and Compounding:

Independent Medical Education:

• Science and practice of clinical nutrition support to promote patient outcomes and to prevent and treat malnutrition.
• Parenteral Nutrition (PN) awareness and education across healthcare professions, patient populations and clinical settings related to the optimization of the end-to-end PN use process including, but not limited to: nutrition assessment, prescribing, order review, compounding, administration, and monitoring.
• Educational programs to raise awareness and develop early career clinicians practicing in clinical nutrition and working with nutrition support therapies and/or pharmacy operations/practice.

Investigator Initiated Research:

• Clinical Nutrition
  • Clinical studies (interventional, observational, healthcare economic or product utilization) associated with the use of the below listed Baxter Clinical Nutrition Products in adult, pediatric, neonatal and homecare PN populations:
    • Multichamber PN Bags (e.g., Olimel/Clinimix/Numeta)
    • Clinoleic/Clinolipid
  • Studies comparing clinical, operational and/or economic outcomes between outsourcing, Multichamber PN  Bags and in-house compounding of parenteral nutrition solutions.
• Pharmacy Tools
  • Studies related to compounding and medication safety, workflow efficiency, resource utilization and/or quality improvement associated with implementation and usage of Baxter’s pharmacy tools portfolio (e.g., Exactamix PRO/Abacus)

Independent Medical Education:

• Providing educational training on the following topics:
  • Advantages of following enhanced anesthesia protocols
  • Benefits of using sterile premixed pharmaceuticals vs. manual compounding and ready-to-use and/or ready-to-administer IV formulations for pharmacy and/or nursing operational efficiency and workflows

Investigator Initiated Research:

• Desflurane
  • Outcomes research to evaluate the benefits of enhanced anesthesia protocols (including Desflurane).
• Injectable IV medications
  • Studies to demonstrate the impact of using sterile premixed pharmaceuticals vs. manual compounding on staff safety, patient safety, and/or medication errors, and for pharmacy and/or nursing operational efficiency and workflows.
  • Outcomes research to evaluate the benefits of ready-to-use and/or ready-to-administer IV formulations.
  • Dose-banding of IV medications, specific interest in Oncology and Anti-infective setting

Connected Care

Independent Medical Education:

• Connectivity of various devices in hospital setting and the impact on patient care/care effectiveness through connected devices.

Investigator Initiated Research:

• The impact of connected devices, automation, visualization, protocols on staff efficiency, workflows, throughput, time saving, patient outcomes, and/or staff satisfaction.
• The impact of multiple connected devices on patient safety, quality, and/or economic indicators.
• The value of an enterprise communication ecosystem and integrations.
• The impact of mobile communication devices and alert/alarm management on throughput and patient outcomes.
• Studies exploring the impact of connected devices, analytics, and reporting on compliance with protocols.

Patient Support Systems (Smart Beds & Surfaces) / Global Surgical Solutions (Surgical Workflow & Precision Positioning)

Independent Medical Education:

• Educational courses on Management of Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs)
• Patient falls prevention strategies and training courses
• Early mobilization of Intensive Care Unit patients and impact on patient care and management
• Age of hospital bed surfaces & pressure injury development/prevention
• Management of peri and intraoperative hypothermia

Investigator Initiated Research:

• Impact of integrating hospital bed technology protocols and the incidence on Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs).  
• Validation of Clinical Practice Guidelines using active surface (Alternating Low Pressure, Continuous Low Pressure, Percussion & Vibration, Continuous Lateral Rotation Therapy) hospital bed technology used to decrease poor outcomes related to Pressure Injury, Pulmonary complications, or immobility.
• Evaluation of Heart Rate and Respiratory data from Contact Free Continuous Monitoring (CFCM) when combined with other patient data from the electronic medical record in prediction of patient deterioration
• Visualization of falls data from a connected device and impact on the incidence of falls.

Frontline Care

Independent Medical Education:

• Patient monitoring and sepsis
• Use of a multidisciplinary approach to cardiovascular care inclusive of primary care providers and specialists
• Bronchiectasis and its treatment modalities
• Best path forward for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Optimizing airway clearance device use
• Hearth rhythm and ECG courses
• Hypertension

Investigator Initiated Research:

Respiratory Health

• Volara in the emergency room to avoid hospital or ICU admission & Home Care patients
• Optimization of airway clearance device use, when to prescribe High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation (HFCWO) in patients
• Effectiveness of Oscillation and Lung Expansion (OLE )[MC2]  therapy on patient outcomes in the home setting
• Impact of improvement in lung function on patient outcomes in the home setting

Vision Screening & Diagnostics

• The impact of instrument-based pediatric vision screening in community or school settings  

Patient Monitoring:

• Study on impact of Connex 360 on workflow (i.e., reduction in documentation errors, time saved for clinicians, visibility to real time data/value of trend data)
• Early identification of patient deterioration & impact on adverse patient outcomes reduction of ICU transfer as a result of the ability to upshift Connex 360 from low to mid acuity care, reduction of length of stay etc.

Physical Exam and Diagnostics

• Studies evaluating clinical outcomes – accuracy of diagnosis (referral / diagnosis areas of focus from PCP to Specialist), ability to visualize (optic nerve, tympanic membrane), practice efficiency (exam time/provider experience), or patient satisfaction
• Otoscopy: better visualization of the tympanic-membrane modifications and potential reduction of antibiotherapy use / overuse (Otitis Media with Effusion vs Acute Otitis Media).
• Blood Pressure averaging on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension 
• Measuring blood pressure in children (< 3 years of age)