Our Improvement and Innovation Showcase brings together teams from across the health system to connect, share and explore their experiences of working towards better healthcare for all South Australians.

Aligned with our Strategic Direction (2024−2027), reducing unwarranted clinical variation is crucial for improving patient outcomes, healthcare equity and system efficacy. Clinical variation — whether warranted or unwarranted — occurs when healthcare practices or outcomes differ from evidence-based standards. The Showcase’s 16^th Series highlighted South Australia’s efforts to achieve excellence by reducing unwarranted clinical variation at a state and national level.

Episode 48: Setting the Scene — Unwarranted Clinical Variation — National Patterns and Reduction Strategies

Myu Arumuganathan (Acting Director — Healthcare Variation, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQH))

Myu presented a decade of progress from the ACSQH’s Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation, showing how evidence-based, data-driven approaches can improve patient outcomes and reduce harm. His presentation explored the underlying causes of clinical variation and offered actionable recommendations.

Rebecca Smith (Principal Project Manager, Maternal, Neonatal, Gynaecology Strategic Executive Leadership Committee, SA Health)
Belinda Nitschke (Project Manager, SA Preterm and Early Term Birth Prevention Project, SA Health)

Rebecca and Belinda shared practical strategies to reduce healthcare variation within devolved governance systems. Using real-world examples from their work in maternal and neonatal care, they demonstrated how these strategies can be applied across different healthcare settings.

Episode 49: From Emergency Department to Ward — Clinical Variation in Frontline Care

Daniel Sofia (Advanced Nurse Unit Manager — Emergency Department, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital)
Danieka Marshall (Nurse Educator — Emergency Department, Royal Adelaide Hospital)

Daniel and Danieka introduced HIRAID® — a validated, evidence-based framework that empowers emergency nurses to systematically assess and manage emergency department (ED) patients after triage. This presentation examined how HIRAID® has been implemented across the Central Adelaide Local Health Network EDs, reducing unwarranted clinical variation in nursing assessments.

Associate Professor Toby Gilbert (Divisional Director for the Division of Medicine, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network; Clinical Associate Professor, University of Adelaide)

Associate Professor Toby Gilbert discussed the ‘Gen Med Project’ which uses data-driven and clinician-led approaches to identify and assess clinical variation in general medicine. This presentation highlighted that not all variation is identifiable, unwarranted or solvable by machine learning, and covered the stakeholder engagement tactics used.

Episode 50: South Australia Leading Change — Clinical Variation in Stroke and Cardiac Care

Professor Timothy Kleinig (Head of Comprehensive Stroke Centre, Royal Adelaide Hospital)

Professor Timothy Kleinig shared his decade-long journey to improve the quality of stroke care in South Australia and nationally. This presentation highlighted how South Australia’s stroke care performance has transformed from one of the lowest in the country to the top-performing state, now leading national quality improvement efforts.

Professor John Beltrame (Michell Professor in Medicine, University of Adelaide; Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Central Adelaide Local Health Network)

Professor John Beltrame showcased the Personalising Acute Myocardial Infarction Care to improve Outcomes (PAMICO) Project. While modern heart attack management has significantly improved survival rates, not all patients receive optimal care, resulting in variation in quality and health outcomes. The PAMICO Project personalises acute myocardial infarction management using clinical risk prediction models, resulting in improved patient outcomes, including fewer angiogram complications and reduced 30-day cardiovascular events.

Series 16: Creating Excellence by Reducing Unwarranted Clinical Variation

Episode 48: Set­ting the Scene — Unwar­rant­ed Clin­i­cal Vari­a­tion — Nation­al Pat­terns and Reduc­tion Strategies

Myu Aru­mu­ganathan (Act­ing Direc­tor — Health­care Vari­a­tion, Aus­tralian Com­mis­sion on Safe­ty and Qual­i­ty in Health Care (ACSQH))

Rebec­ca Smith (Prin­ci­pal Project Man­ag­er, Mater­nal, Neona­tal, Gynae­col­o­gy Strate­gic Exec­u­tive Lead­er­ship Com­mit­tee, SA Health)Belin­da Nitschke (Project Man­ag­er, SA Preterm and Ear­ly Term Birth Pre­ven­tion Project, SA Health)

Episode 49: From Emer­gency Depart­ment to Ward — Clin­i­cal Vari­a­tion in Front­line Care

Daniel Sofia (Advanced Nurse Unit Man­ag­er — Emer­gency Depart­ment, The Queen Eliz­a­beth Hos­pi­tal)Danieka Mar­shall (Nurse Edu­ca­tor — Emer­gency Depart­ment, Roy­al Ade­laide Hospital)

Asso­ciate Pro­fes­sor Toby Gilbert (Divi­sion­al Direc­tor for the Divi­sion of Med­i­cine, North­ern Ade­laide Local Health Net­work; Clin­i­cal Asso­ciate Pro­fes­sor, Uni­ver­si­ty of Adelaide)

Episode 50: South Aus­tralia Lead­ing Change — Clin­i­cal Vari­a­tion in Stroke and Car­diac Care

Pro­fes­sor Tim­o­thy Kleinig (Head of Com­pre­hen­sive Stroke Cen­tre, Roy­al Ade­laide Hospital)

Pro­fes­sor John Bel­trame (Michell Pro­fes­sor in Med­i­cine, Uni­ver­si­ty of Ade­laide; Senior Con­sul­tant Car­di­ol­o­gist, Cen­tral Ade­laide Local Health Network)