The last mile: improving patient outcomes within modern cardiovascular medicine

It is now well recognised that, in many areas of medicine, substantial gaps in clinical care exist despite robust clinical trial data and the careful assimilation of this information into clinical practice guidelines. Those at greatest risk are patients presenting with multiple co-morbidities, and those with advanced age in whom the issues of complexity and limited time available for careful assessment, potentially lead to sub-optimal clinical practice and outcomes. Greater efforts are needed to move the acquired knowledge across the "last mile", that is from clinical guidelines and best practice to nationwide routine practice. This article will discuss some of issues faced in operationalizing "clinical effectiveness" in cardiovascular care in Australia.