A new public board is needed to standardize, measure, and ultimately improve the quality of health care in the United States, according to UCSF School of Pharmacy Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, and University of California colleagues Stephen M. Shortell, PhD, MPH, and Steven A. Schroeder, MD, in a January 8, 2005 San Francisco Chronicle opinion article.

The proposed National Quality Coordination Board is recommended in a December 1, 2005 congressionally mandated report by the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies. Schroeder chaired the report committee, on which Koda-Kimble and Shortell served with 20 other national health care and health policy leaders. The report proposes an annual board budget of US$100 million to $200 million from the Medicare Trust Fund.

More information:

• Opinion Article, San Francisco Chronicle: Getting the Quality of Care We Pay For; Shortell, Koda-Kimble, Schroeder
• Full Report, The National Academies: Performance Measurement: Accelerating Improvement (Committee on Redesigning Health Insurance Performance Measures, Payment, and Performance Improvement Programs)