Identifying and addressing unwarranted clinical variation in hip fracture care to improve health outcomes

Hip fracture is one of the most serious and costly fall-related injury sustained by an older person. This project aims to (i) identify clinical variation in care and outcomes across the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care clinical standard for hip fracture care indicators at jurisdiction, hospital peer-group and de-identified hospital levels; (ii) measure the cost of unwarranted clinical variation from the individual and health system perspective; and (iii) evaluate the clinical and economic impact of the introduction of the hip fracture guideline/standard and hip fracture registry combination in Australia. This project will used national population-based linked health data for all individuals aged 50 years and older with a principal diagnosis of hip fracture and a fall as a principal external cause classification. Data will be analysed in the Secure Unified Research Environment (SURE).