A successful program to reduce cesarean section rates: friendly persuasion

In 1986, the Division of Maternal/Fetal Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center, Chicago, implemented a cesarean section (C-section) program that used clinical guidelines to educate physicians and a computerized data collection system to provide reliable data for physician peer review; C-section rates fell from 17.5% to 11.5% in 1987, where they have remained. This program has been so successful that it is the model for a comparable program for the hospital's gynecology services.