New guide to examine clinical variation

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) has released a new guide to support health service organisations to review clinical variation.

The User Guide for the Review of Clinical Variation in Health Care explains how organisations can implement Action 1.28 of the Clinical Governance Standard in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.

Action 1.28 aims to ensure that health services work with their clinicians to regularly review data collected on clinical care processes and outcomes to identify unwarranted variation. Examining variation in clinical care is one way of identifying if people are being offered appropriate care.

Health services can use available data to identify potentially unwarranted variation and improve the appropriateness of care, which has widespread benefits for patients, their carers and families.

The User Guide describes six key steps for implementing Action 1.28, and provides resources to support health services and their clinicians in reviewing clinical variation. It also includes practical case studies, and clinical topics for potential investigation.

Download the User Guide and share it with your health service organisation, colleagues and other healthcare professionals.

More information

For more information, visit the Healthcare Variation page on the ACSQHC website, or contact: atlas@safetyandquality.gov.au