title: Closing the loop: optimizing physicians' operational and strategic behavior.
abstract: Clinical databases are essential elements in optimizing medical care. They are no finality by themselves, but essential elements in the generation of knowledge. Optimal medical care starts with optimal care based on existing knowledge. This care continues with the registration of the variability in morbidity, comorbidity, and therapy, but also the registration of the early and late outcome. This should then allow the generation of structured inferences based on this registration and the closure of the loop, by treating patients according to this newly created evidence.
authors.affiliation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. paul.sergeant@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Sergeant
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Blackstone
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D002423:Cause of Death; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000401:mortality*; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016019:Survival Analysis