Synopsis:
Variation in care has been long recognised and is often a part of good clinical practice. However, sometimes variation in care is unwarranted and can lead to variation in quality of care and increased costs. The inaugural Australian Atlas of Variation in Healthcare will be launched later this month by the federal minister for health, Susan Ley. Harriet Hiscock will present data on variation in care for some of the paediatric conditions included in the Atlas and discuss reasons why such variation might be occurring. Tom Connell will discuss variation in care closer to home and what we can do as a Campus to begin to reduce unwarranted variation in care for children.

Speakers:
Associate Professor Harriet Hiscock is a consultant paediatrician and senior research fellow. She is director of the Health Services Research Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Co-Group Leader of the Community Health Services Research group at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. She leads the Australian Paediatric Research Network. Her research interests include developing and testing interventions for common, high impact health problems including infant sleep and colic, child mental health and sleep. Achievements in research translation include the roll out of her Infant Sleep program to 1,200 Victorian maternal and child health nurses, for which she was awarded the 2010 Early Years Minister’s Award for Partnerships with Families and Communities.
Dr Tom Connell is head of the Department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital. He is also co-clinical lead of the clinical paediatrics group within the MCRI. This group has an evolving interest in health services research, an area that is set to expand significantly over the next decade. The department of General Medicine admits in excess of 7000 patients every year and it is important that there is consistency in the way common conditions are managed. Tom has a keen interest in how the opportunity provided by the new EPIC EMR might be used to reduce unwarranted variation in care in patients admitted under General Medicine.