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Eric David Peterson, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2005;294:369-371.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Physicians should always strive to optimize the form and intensity of interventions used in medical care and to find an ideal strategy that maximizes therapeutic benefits while minimizing adverse consequences and costs. With regard to pharmacological intervention, optimization of process is usually accomplished by comparison of varying drug combinations and drug doses in formal randomized clinical trials. In a similar manner, quality improvement (QI) interventions should also be tested and optimized through rigorously designed evaluations. And, as with drug therapy, it is important to define the form of intervention and the intensity required to effectively and efficiently improve care practices.

In this issue of JAMA, Beck and colleagues¹ provide an important evaluation of one such QI strategy. The AFFECT trial (Administrative Data Feedback for Effective Cardiac Treatment) assessed whether a one-time hospital feedback report could motivate clinicians to voluntarily increase their use of proven . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.

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Administrative Data Feedback for Effective Cardiac Treatment: AFFECT, A Cluster Randomized Trial
Christine A. Beck, Hugues Richard, Jack V. Tu, and Louise Pilote
JAMA. 2005;294(3):309-317.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT