Physician profiling decreases inpatient length of stay even with aggressive quality management.

It has been well demonstrated that physician profiling for specific diagnosis-related groups or critical interventions modifies physician behavior. The question this study evaluated was whether the addition of a physician profile that displays average length of stay for all cases admitted to the hospital for the defined period of time modified physician practices in an institution that has well-organized and well-integrated Quality Management, Utilization Review, Discharge Planning, and Social Work Departments. The results of this study demonstrate a positive effect of the physician profile in regard to changes in average length of stay.