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Practice Performance (practice + performance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Procedures for establishing defensible programmes for assessing practice performance

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 10 2002
Stephen R Lew
Summary, The assessment of the performance of doctors in practice is becoming more widely accepted. While there are many potential purposes for such assessments, sometimes the consequences of the assessments will be ,high stakes'. In these circumstances, any of the many elements of the assessment programme may potentially be challenged. These assessment programmes therefore need to be robust, fair and defensible, taken from the perspectives of consumer, assessee and assessor. In order to inform the design of defensible programmes for assessing practice performance, a group of education researchers at the 10th Cambridge Conference adopted a project management approach to designing practice performance assessment programmes. This paper describes issues to consider in the articulation of the purposes and outcomes of the assessment, planning the programme, the administrative processes involved, including communication and preparation of assessees. Examples of key questions to be answered are provided, but further work is needed to test validity. [source]

Immediate follow-up after ICU discharge: establishment of a service and initial experiences

NURSING IN CRITICAL CARE, Issue 2 2003
Eunice Strahan
Summary ,Follow-up of patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) is recommended as a means of service evaluation (Department of Health (2000). Comprehensive Critical Care: a Review of Adult Critical Care Services), in order to monitor the quality of the services provided ,Without patient follow-up, ICU staff have only ,death' or ,discharge alive from hospital' as clinical outcomes from which to judge practice performance, and limited evidence exists on which to base decisions about improvements to critical care practice (Audit Commission (1999). Critical to Success , the Place of Efficient and Effective Critical Care Services Within the Acute Hospital ) ,To address these issues the Regional Intensive Care Unit (RICU) obtained information from patient assessment/interview on problems experienced by patients within 8,9 days (mean), following discharge from RICU ,A nurse-administered questionnaire was used to identify functional outcomes, nutrition and psychological issues such as anxiety and sleep disturbances ,Benefits of patient follow-up introduced and planned include: ,patient diaries for long-term patients ,input from clinical psychologist ,review of sedation used in RICU [source]

Barriers to innovation in continuing medical education

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 3 2008
Elizabeth A. Bower MD
Abstract Introduction: Criteria for maintenance of certification (MOC) emphasize the importance of competencies such as communication, professionalism, systems-based care, and practice performance in addition to medical knowledge. Success of this new competency paradigm is dependent on physicians' willingness to engage in activities that focus on less traditional competencies. We undertook this analysis to determine whether physicians' preferences for CME are barriers to participation in innovative programs. Methods: A geographically stratified, random sample of 755 licensed, practicing physicians in the state of Oregon were surveyed regarding their preferences for type of CME offering and instructional method and plans to recertify. Results: Three hundred seventy-six of 755 surveys were returned for ±5% margin of error at 95% confidence level; 91% of respondents were board certified. Traditional types of CME offerings and instructional methods were preferred by the majority of physicians. Academic physicians were less likely than clinical physicians to prefer nontraditional types of CME offerings and instructional methods. Multiple regression analyses did not reveal any significant differences based on demography, practice location, or physician practice type. Discussion: Physicians who participate in CME select educational opportunities that appeal to them. There is little attraction to competency-based educational activities despite their requirement for MOC. The apparent disparity between the instructional methods a learner prefers and those that are the most effective in changing physician behavior may represent a barrier to participating in more innovative CME offerings and instructional methods. These findings are important for medical educators and CME program planners developing programs that integrate studied and effective educational methods into CME programs that are attractive to physicians. [source]