title: Profiling the quality of care in twelve communities: results from the CQI study.
abstract: Health care quality falls far short of its potential nationally. Because care is delivered locally, improvement strategies should be tailored to community needs. This analysis from the Community Quality Index (CQI) study reports on a comprehensive examination of how effectively care is delivered in twelve metropolitan areas. We find room for improvement in quality overall and in dimensions of preventive, acute, and chronic care in all of these communities; no community was consistently best or worst on the various dimensions. Having concrete estimates of the extent of the gap in performance should stimulate community-based quality improvement efforts.
authors.affiliation: Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research, USA. ekerr@umich.edu
authors.forename: Eve A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: McGlynn
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keesey
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Asch
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population