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Epidemiology and evaluation Maria Sala

The Epidemiology and Evaluation research group is made up of professionals from the Epidemiology and Evaluation Department at the Hospital del Mar.

This is a group with multidisciplinary training (epidemiology, health economy, statistics and nursing) which has carried out research activity in the field of health services research (HSR), specifically in the evaluation of the effectiveness and costs of health services and interventions; the evaluation of the needs and use of health services; and the development of instruments for HSR. Current research lines are centred mainly on the evaluation of the health care process in cancer patients and the process’s impact on survival. In particular, 

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the programmes for the early detection of cancer: participation, adherence, results, effectiveness, adverse effects, vulnerable or at-risk groups and simulation models for new programmes, tests and screening strategies 
• Quality indicators in cancer care and survival 
• Cost analysis: development of methodologies in the analysis of costs and cost-effectiveness, from early diagnosis to intra-hospital treatment and throughout the patient’s lifetime from diagnosis onwards (life-time cost).

Our group has been part of the CIBER d’Epidemiologia i Salut Pública (CIBERESP, Networking Biomedical Research Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health) from 2008 until 2012 and has been a recognised Research Group of the Universities and Research Commission of the Government of Catalonia since 2009. Since January 2013 has become part of REDISSEC (Research network on health services in chronical diseases).

In addition to research activity, the Epidemiology and Evaluation Department performs its functions within the hospital environment in very different fields: 

1. evaluation of the activity and costs of the services provided by the hospital, 
2. health care quality and safety, with the coordination of the Parc de Salut Mar Quality Programme and the hospital accreditation processes, 
3. cancer prevention and control, with the management of the community programmes for the early detection of breast cancer and colon cancer and the Hospital Tumour Registry, and 
4. prevention and control of hospital infection.

It also teaches and trains resident medical interns (MIR) for the Unitat Docent de Medicina Preventiva i Salut Pública PSMAR-UPF-ASPB (PSMAR-UPF-ASPB Public Health and Preventive Medicine Teaching Unit), as well as teaching students of Medicine (UAB-UPF) and Environmental Sciences at the UAB, various Official Masters at Postgraduate level and it participates in the Johns Hopkins Fall Institute Health Policy and Medical Care.