QRB. Quality review bulletin
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Impaired anesthesiologists (IAs) seen by the Medical Association of Georgia Impaired Physicians Program were compared to all other impaired physicians seen by the program. Anesthesiologists were the specialists most overrepresented in the program. When each IA was matched to a control with respect to age, sex, race, professional activity status, and year of admission to the program, the IAs were found to be more likely to abuse drugs than alcohol, to abuse narcotics, and to abuse drugs intravenously. The authors recommend tighter control of narcotics and surveillance of all anesthesia personnel in order to reduce the risks to patients associated with chemical dependence.
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A system of daily patient chart review of 11 categories of physician documentation and patient care was implemented over a 36-month period at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. A total of 108,317 charts of emergency patients were reviewed. ⋯ All physicians' charts underwent the same thorough chart review. Not only did the percentage of errors decrease from the first months to the second months of the residents' rotations, but the yearly percentage of total errors decreased as the study progressed, from 5.47% to 3.57%.