Revalidation of doctors in Canada

The process would use practice profile data such as prescribing practices, continuing medical education credits, patient encounter data, practice profiles, and other data generated by activities like peer assessment ratings, wherein colleagues make global ratings of a colleague's performance in practice, or questionnaires administered to patients regarding their perception of the quality of care. The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons has taken particular interest in peer assessment ratings and has completed a careful study of the use of this approach with 308 doctors, finding, on the basis of pilot data with volunteer doctors, that the approach seems to be workable and delivers reliable information. 7 In another study of 255 doctors, the feedback component resulted in two thirds of the doctors undertaking changes in their practices, such as better coordination of care with other professionals or improving their written and verbal communications with others. 8 Step 2 would involve a more careful assessment of doctors identified as at "some to moderate risk" during monitoring in step 1.\n The programmes of the College of Family Physicians of Canada-the maintenance of proficiency (MAINPRO) programme ( www.cfpc.ca/MAINPRO/calendarmainproc.htm ) -and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada-the maintenance of competence (MOCOMP) programme ( www.rcpsc.medical.org/english/public/maintofcert/mocomp_e.html ) -receive high priority at both colleges.