CPI (clinical practice improvement): improving quality and decreasing cost in managed care.

Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

The focus on quality has never been greater. As a result, a new concept, clinical practice improvement (CPI), is emerging. Clinical practice improvement is the application of the scientific method to the day-to-day practice of medicine and can be employed in all health care settings: inpatient or ambulatory, large or small. According to the author, CPI has proved to be effective in reducing costs and improving outcomes because it requires the committed support of clinicians who are involved directly in the process of designing studies, analyzing data, and developing more efficient forms of treatment in their own organizations.

PMID: 10143825 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]