Choosing and evaluating clinical performance measures

Elizabeth A. McGlynn

ResearchPublished 1999

The importance and utility of routine externally reported assessments of the quality of health care delivered in managed care organizations and hospitals have become widely accepted. Because externally reported measures of quality of health care are intended to inform or lead to action, proposers of such measures have a responsibility to ensure that the results of the measures are meaningful, scientifically sound, and interpretable. Increased standardization of both the expectations for public release on measures of quality and the criteria by which such measures will be evaluated should contribute to improvements in the larger field of quality assessment.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1999
  • Pages: 10
  • Document Number: RP-758

Originally published in: The Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement, v. 24, no. 9, September 1998, pp. 470-479.

This publication is part of the RAND reprint series. The reprint series, a product of RAND from 1992 to 2011, included previously published journal articles, book chapters, and reports that were reproduced by RAND with the permission of the publisher. RAND reprints were formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy and compliant with RAND's rigorous quality assurance standards for quality and objectivity. For select current RAND journal articles, see external publications.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.