The Article in Brief

Clinical Concerns About Clinical Performance Measurement

Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD, and colleague

Background Performance measurement, in which clinical performance is measured against preset standards, is a part of current efforts to improve health care quality. Although performance measurement can help practices meet preset guidelines, many doctors are concerned that it is a barrier to delivering good care, therefore reducing some aspects of health care quality. In particular, they are concerned that doctors become overly focused on meeting performance measures rather than on the needs of individual patients. The authors offer ways to improve performance measurement and call for quality improvement efforts that focus on patients.

What This Study Found df

Implications