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Report: Physicians slow to embrace quality improvements

Quality Improvement Monitor, May 12, 2005

Some physicians fail to provide Americans with the best care available, according to a study published May 10 in the journal <i>Health Affairs</i>.

The Commonwealth Fund study, which includes survey responses from more than 1,800 physicians nationwide, found that doctors working alone or in small practices are not as likely as other doctors to have access to devices that could improve record keeping or reduce diagnostic mistakes.

The study's findings include the following:

• Three-fourths of physicians said they did not use electronic medical records and two-thirds said they were not involved in efforts to improve systems of care at the time of the survey. In addition, two-thirds of doctors said they did not monitor feedback about the quality of their clinical performance.
• Sixty-nine percent of physicians said the public should not have access to information on physician performance, but 55% said that patients should have performance information on physicians. In addition, 71% of doctors said that performance data should be made available to executive staff at physician practices.
• Most physicians who receive feedback do so through patient surveys, while 25% of physicians said they receive quality-of-care data through external sources such as health plans.
  

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