Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Sydney, NSW
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Sydney, NSW.
Med J Aust. 2016 Nov 21;205(10):S30-S33. doi: 10.5694/mja15.01360.
Geographic variation in health care use has been demonstrated in many countries over many years. Such variation can be warranted - in response to patient need or preference for care - or unwarranted. Unwarranted variation raises concerns about equity and appropriateness of care. Recent analyses of health care provision in the Australian atlas of healthcare variation show that when routinely available Australian data are mapped by residence of patient, there are wide variations in rates of use of diagnostic tests, dispensing of prescriptions for a range of indications, surgical procedures and hospital admission rates. Despite the wealth of studies demonstrating variation in care internationally, there is relatively little research that explores the best ways of responding to unwarranted variation. Recommendations for action in the Australian Atlas focus on some approaches that could be used in Australia.
多年来，许多国家都证明了医疗保健使用的地域差异。这种差异可能是合理的——是为了满足患者对医疗的需求或偏好，也可能是不合理的。不合理的差异引起了人们对医疗保健公平性和适当性的关注。最近对澳大利亚医疗保健差异图谱中医疗保健提供情况的分析表明，当按患者居住地映射常规可用的澳大利亚数据时，诊断测试的使用、各种适应症的处方配药、手术程序和住院率的使用差异很大。尽管有大量研究表明国际上的医疗保健存在差异，但相对较少的研究探讨了应对不合理差异的最佳方法。澳大利亚图谱中的行动建议侧重于澳大利亚可能采用的一些方法。
