TY - JOUR ID - 3099 TI - Introducing New Priority Setting and Resource Allocation Processes in a Canadian Healthcare Organization: A Case Study Analysis Informed by Multiple Streams Theory JO - International Journal of Health Policy and Management JA - IJHPM LA - en SN - AU - Smith, Neale AU - Mitton, Craig AU - Dowling, Laura AU - Hiltz, Mary-Ann AU - Campbell, Matthew AU - Gujar, Shashi AD - Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada AD - Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada AD - Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada AD - Strategy and Organizational Performance, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada AD - Strategy and Organizational Performance, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada Y1 - 2016 PY - 2016 VL - 5 IS - 1 SP - 23 EP - 31 KW - Priority Setting KW - Resource Allocation KW - Multiple Streams Theory KW - Tertiary Care Health Centre KW - Canada DO - 10.15171/ijhpm.2015.169 N2 - Background In this article, we analyze one case instance of how proposals for change to the priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) processes at a Canadian healthcare institution reached the decision agenda of the organization’s senior leadership. We adopt key concepts from an established policy studies framework – Kingdon’s multiple streams theory – to inform our analysis.   Methods Twenty-six individual interviews were conducted at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, NS, Canada. Participants were asked to reflect upon the reasons leading up to the implementation of a formal priority setting process – Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA) – in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. Responses were analyzed qualitatively using Kingdon’s model as a template.   Results The introduction of PBMA can be understood as the opening of a policy window. A problem stream – defined as lack of broad engagement and information sharing across service lines in past practice – converged with a known policy solution, PBMA, which addressed the identified problems and was perceived as easy to use and with an evidence-base from past applications across Canada and elsewhere. Conditions in the political realm allowed for this intervention to proceed, but also constrained its potential outcomes.   Conclusion Understanding in a theoretically-informed way how change occurs in healthcare management practices can provide useful lessons to researchers and decision-makers whose aim is to help health systems achieve the most effective use of available financial resources. UR - https://www.ijhpm.com/article_3099.html L1 - https://www.ijhpm.com/article_3099_b282296959a75a740d0be38188b3aef6.pdf ER -