Medical expertise includes knowledge of modern interventions as well as the incorporation of ethical considerations and patient goals as they relate to treatment decisions.
The hospitalist model should be modified to ensure that inpatients receive continuity of care and that their expressed values regarding treatment are maintained once they are admitted.
Appropriate use of the pay-for-performance system may improve quality of care by counteracting physician incentives to overtreat in fee-for-service situations or undertreat in capitation plans.
Despite their added benefit in assisting physicians with clinical decision making, statistical prediction rules have not been widely used since their introduction in 1954.