Problems for clinical judgement: 4. Surviving in the report card era

Jack V. Tu; Michael J. Schull; Lorraine E. Ferris; Janet E. Hux; Donald A. Redelmeier

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Medical Report Cards: Science fiction from Edgar Rice Burroughs is relevant to the present
Vincent Richman

Posted on: 02 August 2001

Posted on: (2 August 2001)
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Medical Report Cards: Science fiction from Edgar Rice Burroughs is relevant to the present
Vincent Richman, Research Associate
Tu et al. [1] raise important issues to consider when interpreting report card evaluations. Edgar Rice Burroughs as well as writing science fiction about interplanetary travel and life on other planets, also speculated about effective medical performance evaluation systems [2]. Burroughs described an ongoing physician performance evaluation system in which all physicians were required to report the course of treatment and resul...
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Tu et al. [1] raise important issues to consider when interpreting report card evaluations. Edgar Rice Burroughs as well as writing science fiction about interplanetary travel and life on other planets, also speculated about effective medical performance evaluation systems [2]. Burroughs described an ongoing physician performance evaluation system in which all physicians were required to report the course of treatment and resulting outcomes for every patient. These reports were filed with a central agency and were made available for the public to consult. By making the physician report his own cases, the Burroughs system addressed many of the concerns raised by Tu et al. First the messenger was the physician himself. Second, the quality of data, the risk adjustment process, the completeness of the chart, the outcomes and the full story of both process and outcomes were all provided by the physician.

Vincent Richman
Research Associate
AlgoPlus Consulting Limited
Halifax, NS

VRichman@hotmail.com

[1] Tu JV, Schull MJ, Ferris LE, Hux JE, Redelmeier DA. Problems for clinical judgement: 4. Surviving in the report card era. CMAJ 2001; 164(12):1709-12.

[2] Burroughs ER. The Pirates of Venus. New York: Dover Publications. 1932.
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Competing Interests: None declared.