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How good is the quality of health care in the United States? Is quality improving? Or is it suffering? While the average person on the street can follow the state of the economy with economic indicators, we do not have a tool that allows us to track trends in health care quality. Beginning in 2003, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will produce an annual report on the national trends in the quality of health care delivery in the United States. AHRQ commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to help develop a vision for this report that will allow national and state policy makers, providers, consumers, and the public at large to track trends in health care quality. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report offers a framework for health care quality, specific examples of the types of measures that should be included in the report, suggestions on the criteria for selecting measures, as well as advice on reaching the intended audiences. Its recommendations could help the national health care quality report to become a mainstay of our nation's effort to improve health care.Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary Introduction Defining the Contents of the Data Set: The National Health CareQuality Framework Selecting Measures for the National Health Care Quality Data Set Data Sources for the National Health Care Quality Report Designing the National Health Care Quality Report Appendix A: Workshop: Envisioning a National Quality Report onHealth Care Appendix B: Designing a Comprehensive National Report onEffectiveness of Care: Measurement, Data Collection, and ReportingStrategies Appendix C: Submissions in Response to the Committee's Call forMeasures from the Private Sector Appendix D: Selected Approaches to Thinking About the NationalHealth Care Quality Report Appendix E: Quality Measure Selection Criteria Glossary Acronyms and Abbreviations Biographical Sketches of Committee Members