Table 4 Ovid Medline search strategy (run 28/08/18)

1

Practice Patterns, Physicians’/

52989

2

exp physicians/ or clinician*.af. or physician*.af. or exp medical staff/

839680

3

exp hospitals/ or Hospitalization/ or hospitali*.mp.

502959

4

(variation* adj2 (Clinical care or Medical care or Healthcare or health care or Medical practice or physician* or clinical or practice or clinician* or pattern*)).mp.

10132

5

Guideline Adherence/ or Practice Guidelines as Topic/ or Healthcare Disparities/ or clinical protocols/ or organizational policy/ or evidence based*.ti,ab,kw,sh. or exp “Quality of Health Care”/

6335879

6

1 or 2 or 3 or 5

7015351

7

6 and 4

5392

8

6 and ((Regional adj2 variation*) or (geographical adj2 variation*)).mp.

4745

9

7 or 8

9960

10

6 and (small area analysis or small area variation).mp.

1202

11

4 and (regional or geographical).mp.

773

12

exp child/ or exp infant/ or (pediatric* or paediatric* or childhood or children).af.

3005698

13

9 or 10 or 11

11354

14

limit 13 to yr="2000 –Current”

9076

15

limit 14 to english language

8767

16

15 not 12

6914

17

remove duplicates from 16

4015

18

17 and feedback.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

67

19

17 and facilitated.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

18

20

17 and multifaceted.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

18

21

17 and comparative performance.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

1

22

17 and “controlled before after studies”.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

3

23

17 and ((colleague* or peer*) adj3 assess*).mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

2

24

17 and (workplace based or work place based or work based).mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

4

25

17 and facilitator.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

4

26

17 and quality improvement.af.

205

27

17 and practice improvement.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

8

28

17 and (practice adj2 improvement*).mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

16

29

17 and evaluation program*.af.

3

30

17 and mentor*.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

5

31

17 and continuous quality.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

9

32

17 and continuous improvement.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

0

33

17 and (quality management or TQM).mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

41

34

17 and cooperative behavior.af.

24

35

17 and professional development.mp. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms]

6

36

or/18-35

339