TY - JOUR T1 - A ‘Just Culture’ for performance measures JF - BMJ Quality & Safety JO - BMJ Qual Saf SP - 486 LP - 489 DO - 10.1136/bmjqs-2015-003930 VL - 24 IS - 8 AU - Molly J Horstman AU - Aanand D Naik Y1 - 2015/08/01 UR - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/24/8/486.abstract N2 - Fear of the kind engendered by the disciplinary approach poisons improvement in quality, since it inevitably leads to dissatisfaction, distortion of information, and the loss of the chance to learn.—Donald Berwick1Quality improvement has a culture problem. In its inception, the quality movement adopted a model of continuous improvement, in which the purpose of performance measurement was to offer providers an opportunity for continual learning.1 Starting in the mid-1990s, healthcare systems explored the role of performance measures in monitoring quality on a national scale and demonstrated significant improvements in the care provided to patients.2 ,3 This initial success has led to an explosion in the number of performance measures.4 ,5 However, as the number of performance measures has increased, the role of performance measures in quality has become increasingly burdensome and punitive for providers and hospitals.4 ,6 To make performance measurement relevant for patients and providers, quality improvement needs to dismiss the current culture of punishment and join patient safety in a ‘Just Culture’ of continual learning and improvement.7Providing high-quality care is an important contributor to physician professional satisfaction.8 However, the quality improvement work that is valued by healthcare institutions is often driven by national performance measures rather than local needs identified by providers.9 As performance improves and the margins for further improvement are reduced, clinicians perceive that performance measures result in care that is clinically inappropriate, inconsistent with patient-centredness and less focused on patient concerns.10 ,11 The utility of performance measures as drivers of quality improvement is also unclear. Studies regarding the implementation of public reporting and non-reimbursement policies from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have shown little impact on national trends in mortality and healthcare-associated infections.12 ,13 This is coupled … ER -