Quality improvement in psychiatry: why measures matter.

Increasing attention has been directed in healthcare today to the importance of performance measurement, (i.e., the implementation of measurable methods to demonstrate that practitioners are engaged in high-quality, evidence-based medicine). Many medical specialties, as well as many state medical licensing boards, now require that candidates submit performance measurement data, to be eligible for maintenance of board certification or medical licensure. National organizations such as the National Quality Forum and the Physicians Consortium for Performance Improvement of the American Medical Association are active collaborators with federal, state, and medical specialty initiatives to improve healthcare. These developing efforts are summarized here, with a specific focus on the status of these efforts in the field of psychiatry.