Changing the dial on quality: what will pay-for-performance reimbursement strategies mean for providing better care?

The idea of paying for performance is not new. Over the years, various health plans, employer-payer coalitions, and now even the federal government have been exploring and initiating ways to recognize and financially reward providers for improving the care they provide. But in recent weeks, this issue seems to have taken on a new sense of urgency--with an emphasis on quality. This issue of The Quality Letter for Healthcare Leaders looks at where pay-for-performance is coming from and what healthcare organizations are going to have to do to pay for quality. Highlighted is a new "survival guide" on how CEOs--and entire healthcare organizations--can better tackle performance measurement.