OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to apply published appropriateness criteria for single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in a single academic medical center. BACKGROUND The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) have developed appropriateness criteria for stress SPECT MPI to a...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the appropriateness of recommendations for hysterectomies done for nonemergency and non-oncologic indications. METHODS We assessed the appropriateness of recommendations for hysterectomy for 497 women who had the operation between August 1993 and July 1995 in one of nine capitated medical groups in Southern California. Appropriateness was assessed using two sets of crite...

BACKGROUND Cholecystectomy use varies moderately across regions and countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the use of cholecystectomy in patients with nonmalignant diseases in different hospitals using explicit criteria developed by an expert panel. METHODS Patients on waiting lists to undergo a cholecystectomy for nonmalignant diseases in six public hospi...

Few, if any, studies have investigated the effect of professional experience as a rater variable and type of assessment as a task variable on raters’ criteria in the assessment of speech acts. This study aimed to explore the impact of nonnative teachers’ professional experience on the use of criteria in monologic and dialogic assessment of 12 role-plays of 3 apology speech acts. To this end, 60...