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Activity reporting of Pastoral Care Coordinators (PCCs) is often inadequate within care settings because of suboptimal analog data collection methods. This study aims to render pastoral care activity reporting more efficient through digitizing data collection in pastoral care settings. A one-year feasibility (pilot) study of a digital tool, the "Pastoral Care Activity Tracker" (PCAT) was conducted between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 at HammondCare, an Australian nonprofit healthcare organization. Feasibility was measured using electronic activity logs collected by the tool and user feedback surveys by PCCs. Of the 43 PCCs working in the organization, 42 (97.7%) used the PCAT tool to complete the logging of 66,298 pastoral care activities (M [SD] = 1,578.5 [827.8] activities per PCC). Most activities were logged successfully (98.3%) and took less than one minute (89.5%). Survey responses (n = 20, 46.6%) indicated many PCCs found the PCAT more convenient (n = 15, 75.0%) and easier to use (n = 10, 50.0%) than paper-based method. PCCs found the PCAT to be feasible, favorable, and easier to use for report generation compared to paper-based methods. The feasibility of the PCAT improved pastoral care activity data capture, as perceived by PCCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of Australians use the private health system every year. They should receive safe, high-quality, value-based care. However, poor policy and inadequate regulation of medical technology is driving low-value care at great expense to consumers and the broader health system. Key drivers include the Prescribed List of Medical Devices and Human Tissue, gaps in quality and safety controls for devices being used, and marketing and conflicts of interest. All of these should be addressed to reduce low-value care in Australia's private health system, so consumers are protected from harm and limited health budgets are used effectively. What is known about the topic? With health expenditure rising unsustainably, there is a growing focus on ways to reduce low-value care to improve health outcomes and eliminate unnecessary costs. What does this paper add? This paper details drivers of low-value care in Australia's private health system and recommendations to overcome them. Drivers include the Prescribed List of Medical Devices, gaps in safety and quality controls, and conflicts of interest and marketing. What are the implications for practitioners? These insights are relevant to clinicians, researchers, policymakers, consumers and health business leaders with an interest in low-value care. This article belongs to the Special Issue: Value-based Healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Point‐of‐care lactate devices are used worldwide for intrapartum decision making. Current practice is often based on Lactate Pro (Arkray) but its imminent product discontinuation necessitates determination of an optimal replacement device. Aims: To evaluate the performance of Lactate Pro and two other point‐of‐care devices, Lactate Pro 2 (Arkray) and StatStrip (Nova Biomedical), and to derive scalp lactate cut‐offs equivalent to the current intervention trigger of >4.8 mmol/L. Materials and methods: Paired umbilical cord arterial and venous blood samples from 109 births were tested on the three point‐of‐care products (two devices each), cross‐compared with the reference method blood gas analyser. Results: All brands deviate from the blood gas analyser, with Lactate Pro and StatStrip results consistently lower and Lactate Pro 2 consistently higher. Standard deviation from the blood gas analyser was smallest for StatStrip (0.78 mmol/L, cord artery), and largest for Lactate Pro 2 (1.03 mmol/L, cord artery). Within‐brand variation exists and is similar for all brands (mean absolute difference on cord artery 0.23–0.30 mmol/L). Equivalent values to the 4.8 mmol/L intervention threshold based on Lactate Pro are 4.9–5.0 mmol/L for StatStrip and 5.3–5.9 mmol/L for Lactate Pro 2, calculated by receiver‐operating characteristic analysis. Conclusions: StatStrip appears superior to Lactate Pro 2 to replace the original Lactate Pro. Using StatStrip, the 4.8 mmol/L intervention threshold equivalent was 4.9–5.0 mmol/L. The variation in accuracy of point‐of‐care lactate devices may exceed the small increments (eg <4.2 mmol/L vs >4.8 mmol/L) that guide obstetric decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]