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Physician
Benchmarks
Improve
Diabetes Care
WESTPORT,
Conn. (Reuters Health) - Diabetic patients have a better chance
of receiving good care when their physicians get feedback on how
the care they provide stacks up against top performers, researchers
reported last week in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Catarina
I. Kiefe and a team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham
found that physicians who received periodic reports based on chart
reviews of their care of diabetic Medicare patients along with
clinical performance goals called ``achievable benchmarks of care''
significantly outperformed similar doctors who received only the
chart reviews and standard performance feedback.
In the study,
patients of doctors using the achievable benchmarks had 33% to
57% better odds of receiving influenza vaccinations, cholesterol
testing, foot exams and long-term blood sugar control measurement
compared with other patients.
Achievable
benchmarks represent ``a way for (patients) to get improved care,
assuming that their doctors are willing to participate in this,''
Kiefe told Reuters Health. The benchmarking tool can be applied
to any condition, not just diabetes.
``We have
preliminary evidence that it works in other circumstances,'' she
said.
Based on the
study, researchers conclude that using achievable benchmarks in
population-wide initiatives could benefit a substantial number
of patients.
For example,
12% more patients of doctors who received the performance goals
were given flu vaccines, versus other doctors. ''Assuming that
none of those dying from influenza were vaccinated, between 294
and 587 deaths, and substantially more episodes of influenza and
pneumonia, could be prevented per year,'' the report indicates.
University
of Alabama at Birmingham holds the trademark on the achievable
benchmark of care system, touted as a tool for translating evidenced-based
research into practice.
The study
was funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
SOURCE:
The Journal of the American Medical Association 2001;285:2871-
Reference
Source 89
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