BMJ 1996;312:58 (6 January)

Letters

Use of performance indicators for general practice

EDITOR,--In their editorial on performance indicators for general practice F Azeem Majeed and Simon Voss highlight many of the important issues about the appropriate use of such indicators.1 They emphasise the need for general practitioners to work with authorities to develop such indicators. Authors in other professions that use performance indicators have written similarly of the importance of ownership in their development and the dangers of inappropriate interpretation.2 3

I undertook a national survey of 115 family health services authorities and health commissions to ascertain the use of indicators in prescribing; 80 replied (some on behalf of more than one organisation). The table shows the results. Some respondents had no indicator in a therapeutic area for which another had as many as 14. Several respondents gave the derivation of the indicators, although this was not specifically asked for. Some indicators were based on the idiosyncratic view of a local pharmaceutical or . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Performance indicators for general practice
F Azeem Majeed and Simon Voss
BMJ 1995 311: 209-210. [Extract] [Full Text]

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