What is known about the topic? There is a need to advance quality measurement efforts within Australia’s aged care sector, particularly in the midst of current national aged care and healthcare reforms. What does this paper add? This paper discusses why a national cross-setting evidence-based framework to monitor and evaluate quality and safety of care for older people is critical and proposes a strategy for framework development. What are the implications for practitioners? A national framework will produce the evidence required to inform cross-setting quality monitoring efforts and create the infrastructure required to examine quality and safety outcomes longitudinally.

What is known about the topic? Following the Medicare Benefits Schedule telehealth expansion in 2020 and consolidation in 2022, video-telepsychiatry usage increased but varied across demographic groups. What does this paper add? We studied the trends of once-off assessments and follow-up sessions for psychiatric consultations. We showed that the growth of video once-off assessments far outpaced their face-to-face counterparts since telehealth policy changes and was more sustained in younger age groups. What are the implications for practitioners? The rapid increase in the utilisation of once-off telepsychiatry assessments may affect care quality and healthcare costs and influence consumer health behaviours.

What is known about the topic? Value-based health care (VBHC) is a widely-cited concept aimed at improving patient outcomes relative to the cost of care while maintaining a focus on quality and patient-centred practices. What does this paper add? This paper contributes a simplified, data-driven definition of VBHC using word frequency analysis to identify key themes, making the concept accessible for practitioners, stakeholders, and non-experts. What are the implications for practitioners? The derived definition serves as a practical entry point for integrating value-based care principles into everyday healthcare delivery, ultimately supporting better patient outcomes and more efficient use of resources.

What is known about the topic? Rheumatic heart disease is a disease of poverty, much commoner in Indigenous than in other communities. What does this paper add? This paper briefly reviews the problems and reflects in potential solutions, known and emerging. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners may be interested to see where ther might be hope for a better future, for rheumatic heart disease prevention.

What is known about the topic? The value of contemporary clinician scientist roles is almost exclusively described in terms of the benefits to universities by way of academic metrics such as publications and grants. What does this paper add? This paper explores the unique value of these roles to the health services in which they work, outside of academic metrics and the career benefits to individual researchers. What are the implications for practitioners? Implications for practitioners and health service managers include better describing the value of clinician scientist roles and informing important future research.

What is known about the topic? Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) represents a major cause of premature mortality globally, with an enormous effect on victims, families, and communities. SCA prevention should be considered a health priority in Australia. What does this paper add? This paper provides key strategies and points of implementation in a framework to improve cardiac arrest outcomes. What are the implications for practitioners? A multi-faceted strategy will include community awareness, improved fundamental mechanistic understanding, preventive strategies, implementation of best-practice resuscitation strategies, secondary risk assessment of family members, and development of (near) real-time registries to inform areas of need and assess the effectiveness of interventions. Challenges of patient access to specialised care and equity within the Australian and New Zealand healthcare system should also be recognised.

What is known about the topic? Climate-related disclosures will be mandated for Australian Securities Exchange listed companies from January 2025; however this does not include all publicly funded healthcare service providers. What does this paper add? This paper proposes integrating Environmental, Social and Governance principles into health care as a natural extension of the traditional value-based care focus. What are the implications for practitioners? Healthcare practitioners may need to broaden their focus beyond direct health outcomes to include environmental impact, social responsibility and ethical governance in their decision-making and practices.

What is known about the topic? Governance barriers in health organisations hinder research progress, with prior studies focusing on regulatory and ethical hurdles affecting data access and utilisation. What does this paper add? This paper highlights the specific challenges of securing data access in Local Hospital Networks for health systems research, including institutional reputation concerns, despite alignment with strategic priorities and ethics compliance. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners must advocate for transparent, consistent governance and institutional accountability to facilitate research that improves equity in research opportunity and outcomes within health systems.

What is known about the topic? Many ambulance patients do not require emergency department care; however, paramedics feel unsupported to refer patients to general practitioners. What does this paper add? Across Australian ambulance services, 15% of clinical practice guidelines for low-acuity presentations contain pathways to refer patients to general practitioners, however, the majority of these guidelines lack clarity about when, why, and how to refer patients to GPs. What are the implications for practice? There is a need to expand the breadth of paramedic-to-GP referral pathways within practice guidelines to be representative of paramedic scope of work. This should be presented clearly to ensure front-end usability.

What is known about the topic? There are widespread and longstanding issues with burnout and workplace issues for junior doctors. What does this paper add? This case study showcases the experience of a West Australian health service in improving junior doctors’ wellbeing, access to entitlements, and workplace culture to reduce burnout and recruit and retain a junior doctor workforce. What are the implications for practitioners? Addressing these issues with strong leadership, engagement, and innovative strategies can lead to significant improvements in junior doctor wellbeing and organisational outcomes.

What is known about the topic? Inefficient cancer care is a leading factor in poorer outcomes for patients, as well as affecting sustainability of our healthcare system. What does this paper add? This paper aims to explore the evidence that using patient-centric strategies when diagnosing and treating breast cancer improves care efficiency. What are the implications for practitioners? Ensuring we use, and measure the use of, patient-centric strategies in cancer care will improve efficiency; positively impacting patient satisfaction and economic outcomes.

What is known about the topic? The needs of Australians requiring home-based aged care have been examined from various perspectives. However, more information is required about their comprehensive day-to-day needs at the population level. What does this paper add? Only two relevant studies were located, indicating a gap in Australian research on this topic. What are the implications for practitioners? This knowledge gap could impact effective and efficient home-based aged care service-delivery design and workforce planning, since without direct measurement of the day-to-day care and support needs of individuals requiring home-based aged care, the requirements for optimally addressing these needs are not overtly apparent.

What is known about the topic? This is the first retrospective study assessing the optimal care pathways for lung cancer in Tasmania. What does this paper add? This paper provides insight into the timelines and delays involving the optimal care pathways for lung cancer prior to the introduction of lung cancer screening and compares the quality of delivery of health care against national quality indicators and standards. What are the implications for practitioners? The implications are that practitioners will need to consider reallocating resource utilisation especially with the upcoming national lung cancer screening program, to improve optimal care pathways to achieve national benchmarks and minimise variables between interstate health services to improve overall outcomes.

What is known about the topic? National clinical registries provide a rich resource for researchers, clinicians, policy makers and other stakeholders to perform investigations and make informed decisions. What does this paper add? This paper describes the state- and territory-based differences that preclude the establishment of a harmonised national registry in Australia. What are the implications for practitioners? Without overcoming these differences, national registries cannot be truly harmonised, compromising the accuracy, as well as potential utility, of such resources.