Physician practice style variations.
This article studies the variation in physician practice style among geographic regions and across time. A physician practice profile is defined and a simple model for profile variation is developed. Ratios are calculated for the components of the profile--ambulatory visit rate, hospitalization rate and length of hospitalization--and studied in terms of adaptation to resource constraint and nonspecific style. The methods are applied to hospital use in the Census Metropolitan Areas of Canada.
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002170:Canada; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003657:Decision Making; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005843:Geography; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*