Practice traits of physicians: a neglected quality assurance issue.
Many physicians are not aware of all elements involved with the quality of patient care although they probably often are the primary cause of breakdowns in care. The examples of physician-related inefficiencies in hospital activities cited in this article are daily sources of frustration and are not trivial to hospital personnel. Physicians need to recognize that QA committees function more effectively when they include multidisciplinary insights in the development of more sensible and functionally efficient systems of patient care, in the improvement of their work environments, and in the strengthening of professional relationships. Moreover, QA committees should educate medical staff members to recognize inappropriate practice styles which are major contributors to inappropriate utilization. Quality assurance committees should recognize that the long-standing tradition of allowing physicians to practice as they wish needs to be challenged when the behavior has been demonstrated to interfere with the quality and efficiency of patient care.
D001519:Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D010551:Personality; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care