Peer review is used by editors in deciding which submissions warrant publication, by granting agencies to determine which proposals should be funded, and by academic institutions in tenure decisions. Physician s Practice Patterns Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided. Practice Guidelines Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for the health care practitioner to assist him or her in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.
Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.
An evaluative procedure that focuses on how care is delivered, based on the premise that there are standards of performance for activities undertaken in delivery of patient care, in which the specific action taken, events occurring, and human interactions are compared with accepted standards. Program Evaluation Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact. Prospective Studies Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group. Research Design A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.