“Practice Makes Perfect” … Or Does It?
Authors: Steven E. Weinberger, F. Daniel Duffy, Christine K. Cassel
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2005)

Editorials15 February 2005“Practice Makes Perfect” … Or Does It?Steven E. Weinberger, MD, F. Daniel Duffy, MD, and Christine K. Cassel, MDSteven E. Weinberger, MDFrom American College of Physicians and American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19106.Search for more papers by this author, F. Daniel Duffy, MDFrom American College of Physicians and American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19106.Search for more papers by this author, and Christine K. Cassel, MDFrom American College of Physicians and American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19106.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-142-4-200502150-00014 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The current public focus on health care quality is mobilizing payers and regulatory bodies alike to measure quality of care and to link quality with physician reimbursement through “pay for performance” (1). For the medical profession to address the public's concern and improve its care of patients, it must understand the determinants of quality so that physicians can model and emulate predictors of good quality and recognize and remedy predictors of poor quality.To address one potential predictor of quality, in this issue Choudhry and colleagues (2) systematically reviewed data relating experience and age to physician performance. Surprisingly, 70% of ...References1. Epstein AM, Lee TH, Hamel MB. Paying physicians for high-quality care. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:406-10. [PMID: 14736934] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Choudhry NK, Fletcher RH, Soumerai SB. Systematic review: the relationship between clinical experience and quality of health care. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142:260-73. LinkGoogle Scholar3. Medical professionalism in the new millennium: a physician charter. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:243-6. [PMID: 11827500] LinkGoogle Scholar4. Mazmanian PE, Davis DA. Continuing medical education and the physician as a learner: guide to the evidence. JAMA. 2002;288:1057-60. [PMID: 12204068] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Institute of Medicine. Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: National Academy Pr; 2001. Google Scholar6. Kohn KT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, eds. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Pr; 2000. Google Scholar7. Brennan TA, Horwitz RI, Duffy FD, Cassel CK, Goode LD, Lipner RS. The role of physician specialty board certification status in the quality movement. JAMA. 2004;292:1038-43. [PMID: 15339894] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Duffy FD, Zipes DP. The future of certification and recertification. Am J Med. 2004;117:140-144. CrossrefGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From American College of Physicians and American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19106.Acknowledgments: The authors thank John Tooker, MD, MBA, and Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, for their helpful suggestions.Disclosures: None disclosed.Corresponding Author: Customer Service, American College of Physicians, 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Weinberger: American College of Physicians, 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572.Drs. Duffy and Cassel: American Board of Internal Medicine, 510 Walnut Street, Suite 1700, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3699. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoSystematic Review: The Relationship between Clinical Experience and Quality of Health Care Niteesh K. Choudhry , Robert H. Fletcher , and Stephen B. Soumerai Clinical Experience and Quality of Health Care Ronald S. Szabo “Practice Makes Perfect”…or Does It? Richard L. Neubauer “Practice Makes Perfect”…or Does It? Ira Daniel Breite “Practice Makes Perfect”…or Does It? Steven E. Weinberger , F. Daniel Duffy , and Christine K. Cassel Correction: “Practice Makes Perfect”… or Does It? 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A National Survey 10 Years after Initial CertificationRebecca S. Lipner, PhD, Wayne H. Bylsma, PhD, Gerald K. Arnold, PhD, MPH, Gregory S. Fortna, MSEd, John Tooker, MD, MBA, and Christine K. Cassel, MDIntroductionArmed Forces Medical Services Saw it Coming Two Decades Back!Maintenance of Board Certification to Become Easier, More Flexible in 2006: Evaluating Practice Performance Will Be Integral to the ProcessAssuring CompetencyClinical Experience and Quality of Health CareRonald S. Szabo, MD“Practice Makes Perfect”…or Does It?Richard L. Neubauer, MD“Practice Makes Perfect”…or Does It?Ira Daniel Breite, MDCorrection: “Practice Makes Perfect”… or Does It?AGA Task Force on Quality in Practice: A National Overview and Implications for GI Practice 15 February 2005Volume 142, Issue 4Page: 302-303KeywordsElectronic medical recordsHabitsHealth care qualityInformation technologyMedical educationPatientsQuality improvementSystematic reviewsVision ePublished: 15 February 2005 Issue Published: 15 February 2005 CopyrightCopyright © 2005 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...