Facts and Fallacy of Benchmark Performance Indicators

Efforts to improve quality in healthcare have arisen from the recognition that the quality of care delivered and resulting outcomes are highly variable. Performance benchmarking using high-quality data to compare risk-adjusted outcomes between hospitals and surgeons has been widely adopted as one means for addressing this problem. In this article we discuss the history, current state, methodologies, and potential pitfalls of benchmarking efforts to improve quality of healthcare in the United States.