ArticleBMJ open2019
Measuring 21 low-value hospital procedures: claims analysis of Australian private health insurance data (2010-2014).
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Determinants of the de-implementation of low-value care: a multi-method study.BMC health services research · 2022Pooled it
- Overuse of diagnostic testing in healthcare: a systematic review.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Pooled it
- Overuse in surgery by deviation from the "Choosing Wisely" campaign recommendations: a surrogate of unnecessary surgery and low-value care.Patient safety in surgery · 2026Article
- The effect of cultural and linguistic diversity on the timeliness of prostate cancer treatment: a registry-based retrospective cohort study.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- Low-Cost, High-Volume Health Services Contribute the Most to Unnecessary Health Spending due to Low-Value Care in Japan.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Retrospective Cohort Study of Low-Value Hysterectomy Before and After Publication of the National Heavy Bleeding Clinical Care Standard in Regional Victoria.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- A Taxonomy for Health Information Systems.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Review
- Out-of-pocket expenditure, need, utilisation, and private health insurance in the Australian healthcare system.International journal of health economics and management · 2024Article
- Barriers and facilitators to reducing low-value care for the management of low back pain in Iran: a qualitative multi-professional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Measuring low-value care in hospital discharge records: evidence from China.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Diagnostic Technology: Trends of Use and Availability in a 10-Year Period (2011-2020) among Sixteen OECD Countries.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Developing a How-to-Guide for Health Technology Reassessment: "The HTR Playbook".International journal of health policy and management · 2022Article
- Prevalence and changes of low-value care at acute care hospitals: a multicentre observational study in Japan.BMJ open · 2022Observational
- Rates of Low-Value Service in Australian Public Hospitals and the Association With Patient Insurance Status.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Implementing models of care for musculoskeletal conditions in health systems to support value-based care.Best practice & research. Clinical rheumatology · 2020Review
- Hospital characteristics associated with low-value care in public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Choosing Wisely: The Korean Perspective and Launch of the 'Right Decision in Cancer Care' Initiative.Cancer research and treatment · 2020Article
- Commentary: The Consequences of Private Involvement in Healthcare - The Australian Experience.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2020Article
- Measuring Hospital-Acquired Complications Associated With Low-Value Care.JAMA internal medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the prevalence, costs and trends (2010-2014) for 21 low-value inpatient procedures in a privately insured Australian patient cohort.
designWe developed indicators for 21 low-value procedures from evidence-based lists such as Choosing Wisely, and applied them to a claims data set of hospital admissions. We used narrow and broad indicators where multiple low-value procedure definitions exist. SETTING AND
participantsA cohort of 376 354 patients who claimed for an inpatient service from any of 13 insurance funds in calendar years 2010-2014; approximately 7% of the privately insured Australian population.
main outcome measuresCounts and proportions of low-value procedures in 2014, and relative change between 2010 and 2014. We also report both the Medicare (Australian government) and the private insurance financial contributions to these low-value admissions.
resultsOf the 14 662 patients with admissions for at least 1 of the 21 procedures in 2014, 20.8%-32.0% were low-value using the narrow and broad indicators, respectively. Of the 21 procedures, admissions for knee arthroscopy were highest in both the volume and the proportion that were low-value (1607-2956; 44.4%-81.7%).Seven low-value procedures decreased in use between 2010 and 2014, while admissions for low-value percutaneous coronary interventions and inpatient intravitreal injections increased (51% and 8%, respectively).For this sample, we estimated 2014 Medicare contributions for admissions with low-value procedures to be between $A1.8 and $A2.9 million, and total charges between $A12.4 and $A22.7 million.
conclusionsThe Australian federal government is currently reviewing low-value healthcare covered by Medicare and private health insurers. Estimates from this study can provide crucial baseline data and inform design and assessment of policy strategies within the Australian private healthcare sector aimed at curtailing the high volume and/or proportions of low-value procedures.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.