title: Influencing physician performance.
abstract: For physicians to change their behavior, they must internalize the need for change. One way to do this is to get the physicians to agree to the improvement. In this study, surgeons were asked to agree that documentation is important. When surgeons who agreed that documentation is important were compared with those who did not express agreement, those who agreed were more likely to provide the required clinical documentation. Furthermore, they showed improvement in their percentage of cases with the required documentation when compared to themselves over time. Simple strategies such as asking for a private commitment to change can enhance competency with documentation requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, USA.
authors.forename: Alan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Marco
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buchman
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D013502:General Surgery / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018578:Hospital-Physician Relations; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D009820:Ohio; D017749:Total Quality Management