Assessing quality in payment reform initiatives

Rising healthcare costs and increasing evidence of variation in quality of healthcare have spurred payment reform initiatives that tie reimbursement to the quality of care provided. Success in these initiatives will require identification of valid and reliable measures of quality and rigorous evaluation of the effects of payment reform implementation on these quality metrics. Despite the support and investment in quality improvement through payment reform, results of these improvement initiatives have been mixed. Providers and researchers must remain invested in the development, evaluation, and selection of quality measures for healthcare policy reform.