ENGAGING consumers in health care – from the point of care to the policy development level – is a critical factor in the value-based healthcare equation, says a leading consumer health advocate.

‘EVERY ear, of every child, at every opportunity,’ is the mantra of Professor Amanda Leach, Leader of the Ear Health Research Program at the Menzies School of Health Research.

THE multitude of harms associated with opioids are well known to clinicians, but many continue to prescribe these drugs for chronic pain in the belief that the benefits outweigh these risks, a leading pain specialist says.

MOVES to improve the management of low back pain in Australia are gaining momentum with a national clinical care standard under development and an initiative to reduce inappropriate care in emergency departments.

A COLLABORATIVE group of local clinicians, greater clinical guidance, and an unexpected jolt from COVID-19, is helping to turn the tide on the high rates of hysterectomy in regional Victoria.

SOME people in wealthier urban areas are having colonoscopies too frequently, while others in regional and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas are not being tested at the appropriate rate, according to the Commission’s Fourth Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation.

WHEN a hospital in the St Vincent’s Health Australia group was found to be an outlier in bloodstream infections, all levels of leadership and the local clinical team swung into action to tackle the problem.

A FRAGMENTED healthcare system and poor access to care are contributing to high rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) in some areas of Australia, according to the latest report on healthcare variation.

AUSTRALIA’S focus on healthcare variation has helped improve the appropriateness of care in our healthcare system, reducing the use of low-value therapies and improving access to evidence-based care.

Journal article with Commission authors.