In this course, you will have the opportunity to learn about the great progress that has been made in measuring and evaluating quality of care. We will discuss key concepts and methods. You will also learn about how to use websites for comparing the quality of healthcare providers. The course content is intended for a wide range of participants – for example, people who have a general interest in quality of care, consumers seeking information about how to choose a provider for themselves or family members, or leaders of business organizations who are responsible for employee health insurance benefits and network of providers.

By the end of this course, the learner should be able to: 1. Explain key developments regarding how quality of care is measured and evaluated in the US. 2. Articulate basic framework for evaluating quality of outcomes of care including types of and criteria for selecting quality measures for evaluating and comparing providers. 3. Discuss scientific issues and challenges for evaluating quality of care and methods for addressing these challenges. 4. Identify and apply resources and tools for comparing the quality of care of providers.