Co-ordinated Care: Ethics Debate as Part of the Trial Process.

Co-ordinated care is being trialled in Australia. People with long-term complex and chronic conditions are participating in satellite trials to see if different management and care co-ordination leads to better quality of care, more efficiently delivered. While the trials are under way, significant public statements have been made about co-ordinated care by the government, the professions, notably the medical and pharmaceutical professions, and the community. This paper examines some of those statements, and comments on the input into an ongoing ethics debate of resource allocation in healthcare. Efficiency and quality are recurring themes in this public debate. The process of change is compared to initiatives in the US and UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]