Across the country, coalitions of health plans, employers, and physician organizations are collecting and disseminating information about the quality of care doctors provide. Lack of standardized performance measures, however, can create confusion for providers, consumers, and purchasers; adds to administrative complexity; and limits opportunities to compare performance data. The National Committee for Quality Assurance will create a set of standardized performance metrics for gauging the quality and costs of primary care and specialist physicians and physician groups. These measures, which will be equivalent to HEDIS health plan quality indicators, could be applied nationally by the private sector as well as by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. http://www.ncqa.org