The unintended consequences of measuring quality on the quality of medical care

Abstract

"17 Measurement is essential to the techniques of continuous quality improvement, which are currently being imported from other industries.13 ,18 -22 Health plans, hospitals, physicians' groups, and individual physicians are increasingly being given financial incentives to score well on measures of quality.23 ,24 Although paying for high quality is an innovation with obvious potential benefits, it may also lead to the misallocation of both organizational resources and physicians' time.