Practice Feedback Interventions: 15 Suggestions for Optimizing Effectiveness

TLDR

Electronic practice data are increasingly used to provide feedback for practice improvement, yet evidence shows that the effectiveness of such interventions varies widely and has not improved over time, despite dispersed guidance across disciplines. The authors aim to offer practical guidance to quality improvement professionals, IT developers, educators, administrators, and practitioners by compiling 15 evidence‑based suggestions for effective feedback interventions. They identified the 15 suggestions through expert interviews, systematic reviews, and their own experience in designing, evaluating, and receiving practice feedback. Applying these suggestions is expected to enhance intervention effectiveness, and investigating their underlying mechanisms can revitalize the stagnant literature.

Abstract

Electronic practice data are increasingly being used to provide feedback to encourage practice improvement. However, evidence suggests that despite decades of experience, the effects of such interventions vary greatly and are not improving over time. Guidance on providing more effective feedback does exist, but it is distributed across a wide range of disciplines and theoretical perspectives. Through expert interviews; systematic reviews; and experience with providing, evaluating, and receiving practice feedback, 15 suggestions that are believed to be associated with effective feedback interventions have been identified. These suggestions are intended to provide practical guidance to quality improvement professionals, information technology developers, educators, administrators, and practitioners who receive such interventions. Designing interventions with these suggestions in mind should improve their effect, and studying the mechanisms underlying these suggestions will advance a stagnant literature.