RT Journal
A1 Conway PH, Cassel CK
T1 Engaging physicians and leveraging professionalism: A key to success for quality measurement and improvement
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD September 12
VO 308
IS 10
SP 979
OP 980
DO 10.1001/jama.2012.9844
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.9844
AB 
Trends over the past decades have contributed to strengthening this context for medical care. One is the expanding science of health care quality and the ability to develop meaningful measures of clinical quality, safety, and patient experience. The second is increasing awareness of the importance of quality improvement science and high-reliability organizations as learned from other industries.1 Organizations such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have applied the science of quality research from other industries to health care. This transformational thinking has led health care to use industrial engineering models to reduce or eliminate defects in process, increase reliability, and reduce waste. The third trend has been the increasing adoption of electronic health records, stimulated by the creation of the meaningful-use incentive program. The proliferation of quality measures in this context have increased attention to accountability and led to the formation of the National Quality Forum (NQF) to encourage consistency and endorse measures being used to improve quality. This background highlights the importance of the need for insurance payers to actively engage physicians and other clinicians and to leverage professionalism in quality programs.