SAGE Journals Online
Advertisement
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Advertisement

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
American Journal of Medical Quality
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gandjour, A.
Right arrow Articles by Lauterbach, K. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gandjour, A.
Right arrow Articles by Lauterbach, K. W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Practice-Makes-Perfect Hypothesis in the Context of Other Production Concepts in Health Care

Afschin Gandjour, MD, PhD

Institut für Gesundheitsökonomie und Klinische Epidemiologie, Universität zu Köln, Gleueler Straße 176-178, 50935 Köln, Germany gandjour{at}igke.de

Karl W. Lauterbach, MD, DSc

Institute of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Many studies have found a significant relationship between the volume of specific diagnoses and procedures and patient outcomes. Often, these studies have cited the "practice-makes-perfect" hypothesis as a potential explanation. However, the expression "practice-makes-perfect" hypothesis is inappropriate in most circumstances. This article suggests using the expression "routine" hypothesis instead. In addition, this article compares the routine hypothesis with other familiar concepts from industrial production, which also aim at explaining the relationship between factor input and output in health care: economies of scale, economies of scope, the learning curve, and the focused factory. To point out subtle differences among the concepts, this article suggests a taxonomy organized by type of output and outcome. This taxonomy may help ensure the appropriate use of terminology when applying these concepts.

Key Words: Health care sector • industrial production • "practicemakes-perfect" hypothesis • terminology

American Journal of Medical Quality, Vol. 18, No. 4, 171-175 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/106286060301800407
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GerontologistHome page
A. Gruneir, S. C. Miller, O. Intrator, and V. Mor
Hospitalization of Nursing Home Residents With Cognitive Impairments: The Influence of Organizational Features and State Policies
Gerontologist, August 1, 2007; 47(4): 447 - 456.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Advertisement