Quality Still Counts

By H. Steven Moffic, M.D.
| June 1, 2002

Dr. Moffic is currently the executive vice chair for managed care of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Medical College of Wisconsin. He is also professor with tenure in the department of family and community medicine.

While all this attention to quality took more time, and the expectations varied with insurance coverage, the psychiatrist felt that both the sentinel effect of quality monitoring, as well as the specific expectations, would be worth the effort.

For what we do not yet know to do to improve quality of care, research is essential. Eventually more standardized performance measures may emerge (Hermann and Palmer, 2002). We can and should do better.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

References
1. Becher EC, Chassin MR (2001), Improving the quality of healthcare: who will lead? Health Aff (Millwood) 20(5):164-179.
2. Brown GS, Burlingame GM, Lambert MJ et al. (2001), Pushing the quality envelope: a new outcomes management system. Psychiatr Serv 52(7):925-934.
3. Epstein RM, Hundert EM (2002), Defining and assessing professional competence. JAMA 287(2):226-235 [see comment].
4. Freudenheim M (2001), In a shift, an H.M.O. rewards doctors for quality care. New York Times July 11:C1,4.
5. Hermann RC, Palmer RH (2002), Common ground: a framework for selecting core quality measures for mental health and substance abuse care. Psychiatr Serv 53(3):281-287.
6. Lehman AF (2001), Keeping practice current. Psychiatr Serv 52(9):1133 [editorial].
7. Mason J, Freemantle N, Nazareth I et al. (2001), When is it cost-effective to change the behavior of health professionals? JAMA 286(23):2988-2992.
8. Mohl PC (1996), Confessions of a concurrent reviewer. Psychiatr Serv 47(1):35-40.

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