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Our priority topics - Australian satellite

Priority topics - Australian satellite

The Australian satellite carried out a survey of senior health policy-makers in all Australian States and Territories in late 2008 to identify and prioritise EPOC systematic reviews that would be important for policy-makers in Australia. The results of the survey were published in the Australian Health Review journal (see article) 

Eighty-five priority topics were identified including advance practice roles, care for Indigenous Australians, care for chronic diseases, co-ordinating care across jurisdictions, admission avoidance, and eHealth. Sixty Cochrane reviews addressed these issues at the time of publication with 34 additional reviews in progress. Thirty-four topics were yet to be addressed including:

  • Effects of clinical networks on healthcare quality and clinical outcomes
  • Effects of alternative funding models on quality and access to services in rural and remote services
  • Effects of regional versus national management of health budgets on efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare
  • Advanced practice roles for paramedics to reduce hospital presentations after ambulance calls
  • Effects of implementing advanced practice roles for allied health professionals
  • Effects of allied health assistants to the health workforce
  • Effects of introducing physician assistants to the health workforce
  • Effects of permanent versus temporary or casual staff on safety and quality of care
  • Interventions for improving access to health services for Indigenous people
  • Interventions to improve participation of Indigenous people in the health workforce
  • Interventions to improve safety of health professionals in the workplace
  • Interventions to provide professional support to health professionals working in rural and remote areas
  • Use of PDAs to improve access to health records
  • Interventions to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency of health services for prisoners
  • Interventions to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency of health services for refugees
  • Interventions to improve appropriate uptake of diagnostic and treatment services after screening tests
  • Interventions to support Indigenous people from rural and remote areas receiving care away from home
  • Strategies for improving community engagement in health service planning and delivery
  • Effectiveness of strategies for predicting demand for acute health services
  • Effects of different methods for deciding health priorities in population health outcomes
  • Effects of electronic versus paper-based health records
  • Effects of government versus non-government provision of community-based support services
  • Interventions to improve planning for health workforce needs
  • Patient registers to improve chronic disease management
  • Effects of credentialing of health professionals on safety and quality of care
  • Intervention to improve co-ordination of services between multiple funding bodies

If your author group is based in Australia, or in the South-East Asian region, and you are interested in undertaking a systematic review within these priority areas  or would like to suggest priority topics for systematic reviews please check our author resources on proposing a new review before sending suggestions to the Managing Editor at the Australian EPOC satellite.