Medical care epidemiology and unwarranted variation: the Israeli case.

In an article in this Journal, Mendlovic and colleagues report on regional variation in medical care across Israeli regions. This study joins a growing literature demonstrating generally high variation in the provision of health care services within developed countries. This commentary summarizes the status of medical care epidemiology and its studies of unwarranted variation in health care, and provides a conceptual framework to guide future studies. Recommendations are offered for advancing studies in Israel that could guide policy development and clinical improvement.