Schaffarzick R W, Parke H J
Calif Med. 1970 Aug;113(2):80-5.
Peer review affords a privilege for medicine to participate in the shaping of its future. As a corollary, however, medicine must accept the responsibility of stewardship which attends this privilege. Physicians must be willing to participate even more actively in peer review.Properly, utilization review of professional medical services can be performed only by physicians. They may be assisted by informed lay personnel and by computer-derived data. In no instances, however, should judgment of medical necessity be rendered by computer alone. Although an important function of peer review is the control of health care costs, even more important is the evaluation of the quality of care provided the consumers-our patients."Due process" must be an integral feature of peer review. Any provider must be given the opportunity to discuss his pattern of practice with his peers, and an appellate mechanism must be available.Prospective, rather than retrospective review is preferable, although both approaches are necessary.
同行评议赋予医学参与塑造其未来的特权。然而，作为必然结果，医学必须承担伴随这一特权而来的管理责任。医生必须更积极地愿意参与同行评议。
恰当地说，专业医疗服务的利用审查只能由医生进行。他们可以得到有见识的非专业人员和计算机得出的数据的协助。然而，在任何情况下，医疗必要性的判断都不应仅由计算机做出。尽管同行评议的一项重要功能是控制医疗保健成本，但更重要的是评估为消费者——我们的患者提供的护理质量。“正当程序”必须是同行评议不可或缺的特征。任何提供者都必须有机会与同行讨论其执业模式，并且必须有上诉机制。前瞻性审查而非回顾性审查更可取，尽管两种方法都是必要的。
