Changing Physicians' Practices

What causes physicians to change the way they practice? This question is especially important today because physicians' decisions influence not only the health of their patients but also the cost of their care. Thus, the ability to change physicians' practices could improve the quality of health care while controlling expenditures.Changes in practice are sometimes rapid and dramatic. For example, laparoscopic cholecystectomy has virtually replaced the traditional procedure in the past several years1. At other times physicians are reluctant to change their practices even when randomized trials demonstrate the effectiveness of a new treatment2. In this article we . . .