Problems for clinical judgement: 4. Surviving in the report card era

HEALTH CARE REPORT CARDS INVOLVE COMPARISONS Of health care systems, hospit als or clinicians on performance measures. They are going to be an importan t feature of medical care in Canada in the new millennium as patients deman d more information about their medical care. Although many clinicians are a ware of this growing trend, they may not be prepared for all of its implica tions. In this article, we provide some historical background on health car e report cards and describe a number of strategies to help clinicians survi ve and thrive in the report card era. We offer a number of tips ranging fro m knowing your outcomes first to proactively getting involved in developing report cards.