CTPA use increased from 2005 to 2015 while diagnostic yield amongst ED patients decreased. The PE hospitalization rate also increased, while the outcome of PE mortality remained constant. Although this study cannot prove that overuse occurred, increasing CTPA use with decreasing diagnostic yield suggests an [...]
Antimicrobial resistance makes the misuse of antibiotics in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) a significant concern. Family members influence antibiotic prescribing for RACF residents, but there is limited understanding of the beliefs and knowledge that drive their involvement.
Many administrative health data-based studies define patient cohorts using procedure and diagnosis codes. The impact these criteria have on a study’s final cohort is not always transparent to co-investigators or other audiences if access to the research data is restricted. We developed a SAS and [...]
The evidence base for audit and feedback is incomplete and slow moving: agencies that routinely use feedback to improve care have limited evidence on the best designs and delivery of their feedback programs. Hence, the Department collaborated with researchers to conduct a randomized trial of their [...]
Growing evidence suggests overuse of medications is widespread within low- and middle-income countries, across multiple drug classes, with few data of solutions from randomized trials. Opportunities exist to build collaborations to rigorously develop and evaluate potential solutions to reduce overuse of medications.
Overuse is defined as provision of healthcare which is more likely to result in harm than good, and it is fast becoming a threat to human health and the sustainability of health systems worldwide. Overuse may, but not always, increase the risk of overdiagnosis, which [...]
This article examines how this technology produces new avenues for medical overuse among people who are unlikely to gain clinical benefit, and who as active consumers become medicalised via taking part in disease-specific monitoring.
Sore throat is a common reason for people to present for medical care and to be prescribed antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics in primary medicine is a concern, hence it is important to establish their efficacy in treating sore throat and preventing secondary complications.
November 2021 Wiser Healthcare welcomes the opportunity to provide our views on the Australian Department of Health's 10-year plan for Primary Health Care with the aim of strengthening the primary health care system to deliver the best health outcomes for Australians. [...]
Most of the major advances in health and life expectancy over the past couple of hundred years weren’t due to modern medicine, but to public health, political and industrial achievements, such as clean water supply, sewerage separation, having enough food and avoiding war.