The rate of Adverse Events (AE) in hospitals has been estimated at between 4 and 17%, of which around 50% have been considered avoidable. Given this approach, which is not unknown, it is worth questioning whether the incorporation of clinical practice variability into the factors of this equation would significantly alter the outcome (economic, in terms of health and quality of care).

We are aware of the sensitivities that can arise in a group such as the medical profession when dealing with issues related to clinical practice. This paper does not attempt to analyse clinical practice from a medical point of view, but rather to objectively assess whether this would have a significant impact on the hospital budget.

Nor does it attempt to assess the impact of such unexplained variability. It could be a starting point to promote the most efficient clinical protocol/guideline and to introduce benchmarking between different departments of the same hospital that treat the same pathology (different departments see the same pathology, a frequent occurrence in multi-pathological or elderly patients that can be attributed indistinctly to one or another department).

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