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Previous Volume 330:432-434 February 10, 1994 Number 6 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited Related Article by Kassirer, J. P. Related Article by Phelps, C. E. PubMed Citation

To the Editor: Phelps is correct to warn of the methodologic limitations of consensus-based definitions of appropriateness (Oct. 21 issue)¹. His suggestion that a panel's decisions can be affected by the composition of its membership is true. We found striking differences between the views of two panels (one composed of surgeons, the other of general practitioners, radiologists, internists, and surgeons) on the appropriateness of cholecystectomy². An additional concern is how agreement and disagreement are defined, which can have a profound effect on the results³.

I do not, however, share Phelps's puzzlement over the observation that estimated rates . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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