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Medical Practice Variations pp 53–78Cite as

Medical Practice Variations in Elective Surgery

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

Abstract

The study of variations in elective surgery may be considered a paradigm within the field of medical practice variations. It was the focus of the first seminal work on unwarranted variations where the initial insights and first major hypotheses regarding medical practice variations were based on patterns of variations seen in rates of elective procedures. The taxonomy regarding the underlying causes of variations was largely built upon elective surgery. The current debate on policy implications is populated with numerous examples of elective procedures.

Stemming from work by Glover, Wennberg, Gittelsohn, and McPherson and based on a comprehensive literature review, this chapter is aimed at characterizing variations in elective surgery. The chapter presents the current evidence on variations, describing and interpreting the factors affecting variations in the rates of elective procedures and highlighting lessons expected to have immediate implications for health policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Research in Health Services and Policies, Institute for Health Sciences in Aragon (IACS), ISS-Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain

    Enrique Bernal-Delgado & Manuel Ridao-López

  2. ARAI+D Foundation, Zaragoza, Spain

    Sandra Garcia-Armesto

Authors
  1. Enrique Bernal-Delgado
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  2. Manuel Ridao-López
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  3. Sandra Garcia-Armesto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enrique Bernal-Delgado .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. DptofPublHlthSci,InstfrClnclEvltSciQueen, CntrforHlthServs&PolicyRsrch,Queen'sUniv, Kingston, Canada

    Ana Johnson

  2. Institute forClinical EvaluativeSciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Thérèse A. Stukel

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Bernal-Delgado, E., Ridao-López, M., Garcia-Armesto, S. (2016). Medical Practice Variations in Elective Surgery. In: Johnson, A., Stukel, T. (eds) Medical Practice Variations. Health Services Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7603-1_71

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7603-1_71

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7602-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7603-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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