Unwarranted variations. Among health care systems and payers—both government and private—this term implies unnecessary risk to patients, diminished quality of care, and increased health care costs. From the numerous studies and papers published on the topic, a common description emerges: unwarranted variations are not directly due to the inherent variations of a given patient; rather to the variations in the processes and conditions of how care is delivered, especially when it results in inconsistencies in the adherence to and administering of evidence-based guidelines of…
