The tide is changing. Examples of variation are cited in a recent article in USA Today . For more background see the Dartmouth Atlas-Michigan . While initial quality initiatives arising from the IOM report and the Leapfrog Group are focused on medical error and patient safety initiatives, the focus won't end there. Unwanted variation is a commonality among these quality problems.
Misuse suggests negligent variation from defined procedures.
It started with a big bang, but eventually faded. There is also significant support among emerging leaders of the physician community. Media attention to the Institute of Medicine story has propelled the problem of medical errors to the forefront in just a short period of time. Here are several nuggets from early work. Variation appears in many shapes and sizes, including procedures, diseases and conditions, geography, by physician specialty, etc.