From the Editor The Vision for a National Quality Report

By now, most readers are familiar with the far-reaching Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports on American medical care. Taken together, To Err is Human1 and Crossing the Quality Chasm2 reveal a health system that is disjointed, inefficient, and, too frequently, harmful to patients. “Americans ought to be able to count on receiving care that is safe and uses the best scientific knowledge…there is strong evidence that this is not the case.”1 It is not my intent to summarize these widely publicized reports in this space. Rather, I want readers to focus on another task directly related to these reports; that is, former President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality (in the Healthcare Industry) call for a national commitment to improve quality. This Presidential Advisory Commission recommended that there be an annual report to the President and Congress on the nation’s progress in improving healthcare quality. As a result, Congress enacted the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 directing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to prepare an annual report on national trends in the quality of healthcare provided to th