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The Seven Secrets to Getting Real Value Out of Peer Review

News  |  By Greeley  
   May 30, 2017

Today, physician peer review in most organizations is a matter of simply going through the motions. While this might meet regulatory requirements, there’s no real value gained from the act, much less any benefit in terms of overall physician performance. When conducting peer review, organizations are using part of their revenue from patient care to improve their provision of that care; it’s an investment that demands a return, yet many organizations do not get one. How can organizations move from these ineffective routines to conduct peer review that works—and promotes continuous improvement?

In this Q&A, Rick Sheff, MD, chief medical officer for The Greeley Company, shares the seven secrets The Greeley Company uses to help their clients get real value out of peer review.

Peer review started out as punitive and acquired a reputation as biased. In this Q&A, you’ll learn how to drive out bias, and how to use rule and rate indicators to create a neutral environment of measurement and feedback. In addition, you will discover why using a single target for all rate indicators is one of the biggest pitfalls for peer review—and how to move beyond this practice. Also, you’ll learn why the management style of a physician culture within an organization is critical to balanced peer review.

Taking inspiration from manufacturing industries, you’ll learn how to use continuous performance improvement from everyone in the organization to positive effect, whether the organization is a solid performer or an underachiever. You will also learn why, even though state disclosure laws may discourage effective peer review, the need for such peer review is stronger than ever. Lastly, are you appreciating your physician employees? If not, all your efforts to rev up peer review could fall short. This Q&A will demonstrate why appreciation is the element that could separate a successful program from an unsuccessful one.

Once physicians learn the seven secrets to getting real value out of the time and effort they put into peer review, most will embrace them. Then, the organization can train physicians to lead and perform peer review themselves, creating a virtuous cycle. If the culture isn’t ready for this change, it’s often helpful to start with an assessment that identifies what’s being done well in peer review and the major opportunities for improvement. Either way, once organizations implement the seven secrets to peer review, they’ll never want to go back to their old wasteful ways. Download this Q&A here.

The Greeley Company is a full-service healthcare consulting practice with specialties including Compliance & Quality, Bylaws & Governance, Medical Staff Optimization & Physician Alignment, External Peer Review, Credentialing & Privileging, Interim Staffing, and Education & Seminars. 888-749-3054 | www.greeley.com

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