title: A provocative look at performance measurement.
abstract: A fascinating web of issues can be spun from the notion of performance measurement. After a brief discussion about the background of performance measurement, this article puts performance measurement into a fresh light by examining three major issues: the concept of quality and its application to performance measurement, the power of the patient and the transition of focus to customers within health care organizations, and deliberations about data and concomitant implications for information systems of the future.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Office of the Army Surgeon General, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Staggers
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*