Reducing Variation In Health Care

Harkness Fellow Identifies Strategies For Reducing Variation In Health Care

University of Otago health policy specialist and lecturer Associate Professor Robin Gauld will report back on his research in the US as a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, at public seminars in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin over coming weeks. One of fifteen 2008-2009 Harkness Fellows from New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, Dr Gauld researched strategies for reduction of unwarranted clinical practice variations during a twelve month placement at Boston University’s Health Policy Institute.

Unwarranted clinical practice variations – variations in health care practices that cannot be explained by illness severity or patient preference – can be costly and harmful, and are a core quality concern that hospitals should have strategies in place to reduce. However, little is known about the degree of concern in hospitals about unwarranted variations, which services are of most concern, or the mix of strategies being used to reduce variation. For his Harkness Fellowship research project, Dr Gauld investigated these issues in US hospitals, undertaking case studies of five Massachusetts hospitals and a survey of all acute care hospitals in four US states. Unwarranted variation was found to be a concern for most, and was being acted on by many, albeit using a wide variety of strategies. Successful models were identified that could be emulated and implemented more broadly in the US and in New Zealand settings in order to reduce variations in patient care.

Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice are offered by private American foundation The Commonwealth Fund to stimulate innovative health care policies and practices in the United States and other industrialised countries. Valued at over US$100,000, the Fellowships allow mid-career health professionals from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to spend up to 12 months in the US conducting original research and working with leading American health policy experts. Applications for 2011-2012 Fellowships are open now and close on 13 September 2010. See www.commonwealthfund.org for further details.

ENDS

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