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Medical Practice Variations in Emergency Services

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Medical Practice Variations

Part of the book series: Health Services Research ((HEALTHSR))

Abstract

This chapter explores the established literature on medical practice variation in urgent and emergency care. There are important differences between this area and studies of variation in elective care, primarily that demand for urgent care is less under the control of the health system, care pathways tend to be much more complex, and choices are often made under fraught circumstances with incomplete information. The first two sections address the context in which urgent care is delivered, in terms of the way in which care services are structured and factors known to influence the demand for urgent care. The remainder of the chapter summarizes the studies done on medical practice variation in urgent and emergency care, grouped into four main settings in which practice variation may occur: urgent primary care, prehospital EMS, the emergency department, and care following emergency admission to hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Trust, 59 New Cavendish Street, W1G 7LP, London, UK

    Ian Blunt

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  1. Ian Blunt
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Correspondence to Ian Blunt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University Centre for Health Services and Policy Re, Kingston, Canada

    Ana Johnson

  2. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Scienc, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Thérèse Stukel

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Blunt, I. (2014). Medical Practice Variations in Emergency Services. In: Johnson, A., Stukel, T. (eds) Medical Practice Variations. Health Services Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7573-7_73-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7573-7_73-2

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