Physician profiling decreases inpatient length of stay even with aggressive quality management.
It has been well demonstrated that physician profiling for specific diagnosis-related groups or critical interventions modifies physician behavior. The question this study evaluated was whether the addition of a physician profile that displays average length of stay for all cases admitted to the hospital for the defined period of time modified physician practices in an institution that has well-organized and well-integrated Quality Management, Utilization Review, Discharge Planning, and Social Work Departments. The results of this study demonstrate a positive effect of the physician profile in regard to changes in average length of stay.
Ross
G
G
St John Detroit Riverview Hospital, 7733 East Jefferson, Detroit, MI 48214-2598, USA.
Johnson
D
D
Castronova
F
F
D019985:Benchmarking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008824:Michigan; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000145:classification*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods*; D014600:Utilization Review