ABSTRACT
Medical practice, in the eyes of many, is in bad shape. Physicians from different regions or different hospitals treat similar complaints in astonishingly varying ways, and many argue that this variability goes far beyond any rational basis (Eddy, 1990; Wennberg, 1984). Underlying these problems, it is argued, are some recurring obstacles. Physicians are drowning in an ever-increasing flow of information and are working in environments that are getting more and more complex. These high demands, so the reasoning often goes, are just too much for their limited cognitive abilities. 1
