This paper examines the sources of practice variations and definitions of unwarranted
variation, as derived from the literature. The literature suggests variables/factors related to …

Pay for performance (P4P) has become a popular approach to performance improvement in
health care. Most of the P4P literature has focused on the United States and there is limited …

Pay for performance (P4P) is increasingly being used to stimulate healthcare providers to
improve their performance. However, evidence on P4P effectiveness remains inconclusive …

Background Emerging evidence indicates that patients with mental health conditions
(MHCs) may receive less intensivemedicalcare. Diabetes serves as a useful condition in …

Background: Poorly controlled cardiovascular risk factors are common. Evaluating whether
physicians respond appropriately to poor risk factor control in patients may better reflect …

Previous observational research confirms abundant variation in primary care practice. While
variation is sometimes viewed as problematic, its presence may also be highly informative in …

OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS OR SO, THERE HAS BEEN A rise of 2 parallel movements,
one toward the ex-plicit use of clinical trial data to guide clinical practice (evidence-based …

Results of medical research studies are often contradictory or cannot be reproduced. One
reason is that there may not be enough patient subjects available for observation for a long …

Background: Consistent compliance with evidence-based guidelines is challenging yet
critical to patient safety. We conducted a qualitative study to explore the underlying causes …

PURPOSE This study was designed to evaluate the impact of electronic medical record
(EMR) implementation on quality of diabetes care. METHODS We conducted a 5-year …