​Meyer GS, Nelson EC, Pryor DB, James B, Swensen SJ, Kaplan GS, Weissberg JI, Bisognano M, Yates GR, Hunt GC. More quality measures versus measuring what matters: A call for balance and parsimony. BMJ Quality and Safety. 2012 Oct 24;21:964-968.

Although benefits have accrued from the growth in quality measurement, the recent explosion in the number of measures threatens to shift resources from improving quality to cover a plethora of quality performance metrics that may have a limited impact on the things that patients and payers want and need (i.e., better outcomes, better care, and lower per capita costs). The authors propose a policy that quality measurement should be parsimonious: to measure quality, outcomes, and costs with appropriate metrics that are selected based on end-user needs.

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