Authored by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care with medical journalist Nicole MacKee
Hitchhiker’s guide to best-practice care Roadmap to targeting unwarranted healthcare variation
Nicole Rasmussen, Director, Patient Safety and Improvement, Clinical Governance, for Alfred Health in Victoria
Identifying unwarranted variation in any healthcare service can be challenging, but in services with complex caseloads, it requires a roadmap akin to ‘the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy’, says a leading governance expert. Nicole Rasmussen, Director, Patient Safety and Improvement, Clinical Governance, for Alfred Health in Victoria, says the service cares for some of the state’s sickest and most complex cases, from patients presenting with severe trauma to those requiring heart, lung and kidney transplants. Ms Rasmussen says being alert to unwarranted healthcare variation is critical to providing optimal care to all patients. ‘It is important that our patients are provided the best possible care that is evidence based and person-centred,’ she says. ‘Identifying and addressing unwarranted variation leads to improved healthcare outcomes along with more effective and efficient use of healthcare resources.’
Warranted variation, on the other hand, reflects a patient’s clinical condition or individual care needs or preferences, she notes.
Embed in existing processes The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards’ User Guide for the Review of Clinical Variation in Health Care provides a roadmap to target and address unwarranted healthcare variation. ‘The User Guide outlines a practical, systematic approach to identifying unwarranted variation,’ Ms Rasmussen says. ‘There are competing priorities and a plethora of data and it can feel overwhelming trying to identify where or how to start.’ The Standards’ Action 1.28 requires health service organisations to use ‘the data collected on clinical care processes and outcomes to identify potentially unwarranted variation, and regularly review and improve the appropriateness of clinical care’. The Health Advocate • MAY 2021
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