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The United Kingdom is currently introducing public reporting of performance information for individual cardiac surgeons. The reports will indicate whether a surgeon has an acceptable level of performance, measured by in-hospital mortality. In the United States, surgeon-specific performance data have been available for over a decade. Arguments from both safety and accountability perspectives provide strong justifications for public reporting of such data. Were Australia to adopt similar public reporting processes, we should learn from overseas experiences. Surgical associations should be actively involved in developing data standards and processes for data collection, validation, analysis and publication. Any Australian policy initiative for public reporting of individual surgeon data should be backed by a political commitment to adequate funding.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Med J Aust

Publication Date

06/09/2004

Volume

181

Pages

266 - 268

Keywords

Australia, Coronary Artery Bypass, Humans, Information Dissemination, Medical Errors, Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care), Quality of Health Care, Social Responsibility, United Kingdom