Unwarranted variation in health care requires action from all players in health — including clinical colleges
Marked variations in the use of 18 health care services, such as hospitalisations for chronic diseases and surgical procedures, were reported in the Second Australian atlas of healthcare variation (the second Atlas), recently published by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission).1 The amount of variation seen is unlikely to be explained by differences in patient needs, and so indicates opportunities for delivering more effective patient care and getting better outcomes for individuals and for the community.2
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- 1. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Second Australian atlas of healthcare variation. Sydney: ACSQHC, 2017.
- 2. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, National Health Performance Authority. First Australian atlas of healthcare variation. Sydney: ACSQHC, 2015.
- 3. Australian Orthopaedic Association. Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry annual report 2015. Adelaide: AOA, 2015.
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- 5. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Focus on health: geographic variations in health care. Paris: OECD, 2014.
- 6. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Osteoarthritis of the knee: clinical care standard. Sydney: ACSQHC, 2017.
- 7. Arthritis Australia. Time to move: osteoarthritis. Arthritis Australia, 2014.
- 8. Christensen R, Bartels EM, Astrup A, Bliddal H. Effect of weight reduction in obese patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Rheum Dis 2007; 66: 433-439.
- 9. Brand C, Hunter D, Hinman R, et al. Improving care for people with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee: how has national policy for osteoarthritis been translated into service models in Australia? Int J Rheum Dis 2011; 14: 181-190.
- 10. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Chapter 7: Prevention of chronic disease. Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice. 9th ed. Melbourne: RACGP, 2016.
- 11. Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges. National Health Summit on Obesity: report and consensus statement. Canberra: CPMC, 2016.
- 12. PricewaterhouseCoopers. Weighing the cost of obesity: a case for action. PwC, 2015.
- 13. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4714.0 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey, 2014-2015. Canberra: ABS, 2016.
- 14. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4364.0.55.001 National health survey: first results, 2014-2015. Canberra: ABS, 2015.
- 15. Medical Board of Australia. Good medical practice: a code of conduct for doctors in Australia: MBA, 2014.
We all work for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, which published the second Atlas.