PSRO: Quality Control? Or Gimmickry?

The implementation of quality control programs of health care service requires a technology no less complex than that of the quality control program itself. Previous efforts to implement programs where health care practitioners are truly accountable have foundered on: 1. The lack of enthusiasm of ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical care 1974-12, Vol.12 (12), p.1012-1018
Main Author: Bellin, Lowell Eliezer
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude
Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans
Cost control
Ethics, Medical
Government Agencies
Hospital utilization rate
Humans
Medicaid
Medicare
Medication administration
Organization and Administration
Peer Review
Physicians
Professional Review Organizations
Public health
Quality assurance
Quality Control
Quality of Health Care
Review committees
Social Control, Formal
Societies, Medical
United States
Utilization Review
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Summary:The implementation of quality control programs of health care service requires a technology no less complex than that of the quality control program itself. Previous efforts to implement programs where health care practitioners are truly accountable have foundered on: 1. The lack of enthusiasm of major third party payers, 2. The functional inadequacies of Medicare utilization review committees, and 3. The conflict of interests of medical societies. For the Professional Standards Review Organizations (PSRO) to be effective rather than ceremonial, evaluation that is arm's length between evaluator and practitioner is indispensable. The PSRO is the last chance for organized medicine to demonstrate that it can and will control those practitioners who habitually do violence to its ethical and professional norms. The paper lists other options should the presently structured PSRO program fail.
ISSN:0025-7079
1537-1948
DOI:10.1097/00005650-197412000-00004