Effect of a medical care evaluation program on physician knowledge and performance.

A model program designed to increase the educational value of medical care evaluation committee meetings was studied to determine its effect on the knowledge and clinical performance of participating physicians. The members of hospital committees in which the program was successfully implemented showed a statistically significant gain in knowledge of the topics discussed by their committees. In addition, several members made substantial changes in their patient care practices. These changes resulted not so much from the acquisition of new medical information as from a rethinking of patient management strategies, stimulated by peer discussion during committee meetings. A structure that encourages such discussions can be incorporated in other types of patient-care-oriented committee activities as well.