Statistics for the Residency Review Committee: a clear windows approach

Because the reporting requirements imposed by the Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Obstetrics and Gynecology have become more extensive, we sought to develop a Microsoft Windows 3.1 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA)-based computer program for maintaining an on-line record of resident surgical experience. Data input for our program occurs in two stages. All residents are responsible for maintaining separate obstetrics and gynecology-primary care statistical booklets. Each booklet consists of individual perforated data sheets. The front of the obstetrics data sheets is a replica of the bottom portion of RRC S Form Obstetrics. The reverse side is a replica of the top half of S Form Obstetrics, listing all "accountable" obstetric procedures, coded by level of operator responsibility. The front of the gynecology data sheet replicates the S Form Primary and Preventive Ambulatory Medicine. The reverse of this sheet is a replica of S Form Gynecology and lists all "accountable" gynecologic procedures, again coded by level of operator responsibility. Residents submit data sheets on a daily basis to the residency program coordinator, who then enters each patient encounter into a user-friendly data base program. Data entry screens are essentially identical to the individual encounter forms, and input requires fewer than 30 seconds per form. Once the individual patient's data is entered on the screen, the computer program automatically updates the resident's cumulative surgical experience and stratifies experience by year of training. At any time, program administrators have on-line access to a comprehensive record of an individual resident's or group of residents' clinical experience.