Improving Audit and Feedback in Primary Care
Author Information
Author(s): Noah M Ivers, Karen Tu, Jill Francis, Jan Barnsley, Baiju Shah, Ross Upshur, Alex Kiss, Jeremy M Grimshaw, Merrick Zwarenstein
Primary Institution: Women's College Hospital Family Health Team
Hypothesis
The addition of a theory-informed worksheet designed to facilitate goal setting and the development of action plans will lead to changes in behaviour and improved outcomes for family physicians receiving performance feedback.
Conclusion
The study aims to determine if enhanced feedback with goal-setting worksheets can improve the quality of care for patients with diabetes and ischemic heart disease.
Supporting Evidence
- Audit and feedback can improve quality of care but optimal design is unknown.
- Feedback interventions have shown variability in effectiveness.
- Goal-setting and action plans may enhance the effectiveness of feedback.
Takeaway
Doctors can get better at helping patients with diabetes and heart disease by using special worksheets that help them set goals and make plans.
Methodology
A two-arm cluster trial with family physicians receiving either simple feedback or enhanced feedback with a goal-setting worksheet.
Potential Biases
Potential selection bias due to the convenience sampling of physicians.
Limitations
The study sample may not represent all family physicians in Ontario, and the results may not be generalizable to those using different EMR systems.
Participant Demographics
Participants are family physicians from Ontario, with varied years of practice and experience using electronic medical records.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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