Editorial: Navigating low-value care in regional, rural and remote Australia

Abstract

<p>Occasions of low-value care (LVC) are those that confer little or no benefit to the patient or where harm (includ-ing lost treatment opportunity and financial cost) exceeds likely benefit.¹ While it is easy to conceptualise health care as either low or high value, the reality is that 'value' is conferred on a continuum and within a context. Some healthcare activities are widely acknowledged as low value (e.g., cranial CT in patients without meeting clinical decision criteria ² and MRIs for low back pain ³). However, much health care is conducted in the 'grey zone'^4,5 where the 'value' of health care is context dependent.</p>