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Australian Satellite of the Cochrane Effective Practice & Organisation of Care Group

The Australian Satellite of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group was established in January 2006 to facilitate evidence-based policy making in the Australasian region by supporting, promoting and helping to implement Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions designed to improve health professional practice and the delivery of effective health services. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

The Cochrane EPOC Group's editorial base is in Ottawa, Canada and satellites have been created in Australia, Norway and the UK. The scope of the group is to undertake systematic reviews of educational, behavioural, financial, organisational and regulatory interventions that cover many clinical areas.

Examples of EPOC systematic reviews* of relevance to primary health care

• Computerised advice on drug dosage to improve prescribing practice
• Hospital at home versus in-patient hospital care
• Interventions to improve outpatient referrals from primary to secondary care
• Interventions to improve the management of diabetes mellitus in primary care, outpatient and community settings
• Patient reminder and patient recall systems for improving immunization rates
• Specialist outreach clinics in primary care and rural hospital settings
• Substitution of doctors by nurses in primary care
• Educational outreach visits: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes
• Telemedicine versus face to face patient care: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes
• Effectiveness of shared care across the interface between primary and specialty care in chronic disease management

The Australian satellite is based in Melbourne at the National Institute of Clinical Studies, an institute within the National Health and Medical Research Council. Led by Russell Gruen and coordinated by Emma Tavender, the satellite has a small but growing number of members; the majority of which are either contributing or interested in contributing to an EPOC review.

The satellite welcomes those who are interested in participating in systematic reviews and staying up to date with the latest reviews. As a member, you will have the opportunity to:

• Lead or contribute to EPOC systematic reviews of relevance to the Australasian region;
• Receive training and mentoring in undertaking systematic reviews from the Cochrane EPOC satellite staff in Australia;
• Peer review for Cochrane EPOC systematic reviews; and
• Keep up to date with the latest reviews via regular newsletters and emails.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the satellite (free of charge) please contact me:
Emma Tavender
EPOC Satellite Co-ordinator
P: 03 8866 0414
E: emma.tavender@nhmrc.gov.au
Web: www.epoc.nhmrc.gov.au

*Published in The Cochrane Library - free access available <www.nhmrc.gov.au/nics/>