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Tip of the week: Change the way physicians think about performance feedback

Medical Staff Leader Connection, January 13, 2011

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Unfortunately, as the medical staff shares with physicians data that indicate an opportunity for improvement, some physicians choose to push back rather than modify their behavior. Physicians who have a tendency to refute the data will claim that it’s the information (not their performance) that is flawed.  These reactions are not in accordance with a culture of continuous performance improvement. All physicians must review data on their own performance and the performance of their department as a whole, and they must use that data to improve the care they provide. Set this expectation up front, and make it clear to physicians that even imperfect data can include valid information that they can use to improve and self correct. In addition, the only way to enable flawed data to become better data is to use them and refine them over time. Not accepting data because they are not perfect is no excuse for not using any data. Even flawed data have elements of truth. The bottom line is that all physicians should be expected to use performance and behavior data to improve the quality of care delivered at your institution.
 
This week’s tip is from A Practical Guide to Managing Disruptive and Impaired Physicians by R. Dean White, DDS, MS and Jonathan H. Burroughs, MD, MBA, FACPE, CMSL.

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