Physician assessment: measuring competence and performance

Physician assessment: measuring competence and performance

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
NHPF background paper
Contributor(s):
Sprague, Lisa.
George Washington University. National Health Policy Forum.
Publication:
Washington, D.C. : George Washington University, [2010]
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Certification
Licensure
Physicians -- standards
Professional Competence
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
There was a time when anyone could call himself a doctor, without being called on his credentials by any public or professional authority. State authority to regulate the practice of medicine was defined in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, specialty boards began to define the training, knowledge, and skills required to call oneself a pediatrician or a cardiologist or an ophthalmologist, and to offer physicians the opportunity to "certify" that they were qualified. These two mechanisms, mandatory licensure and voluntary certification, are still the means by which physician qualifications are assessed. This paper reviews how these processes operate and the ways in which they have evolved--and are still changing--to meet today's ideas of accountability.
Copyright:
The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
Extent:
17 p.
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
101532601 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101532601