EVIDENCE-BASED CARE .3. MEASURING PERFORMANCE - HOW ARE WE MANAGING THIS PROBLEM

The authors have frequently been surprised by discrepancies between wh at they perceived they were doing and what they found when they audite d their medical records. Because these discrepancies are common it is important to measure physician performance to ensure that effective ca re is being provided. To measure clinical performance physicians must decide what to measure, whether the needed information is available, h ow to select an appropriate sample of patients, how to collect the inf ormation needed and how to interpret the information collected. It is essential that this process be as efficient as possible because of the already heavy demands on physicians' time. The aim of performance mea surement is to collect the minimum amount of information needed to det ermine how well physicians are performing and whether they need to imp rove.