This executive summary presents the findings of a RAND Health effort to gather and synthesize the emerging body of lessons that are being learned about physician performance feedback.

Incentive programs are all about behavior change. Program sponsors must consider whose behavior must change to improve quality and contain costs. Learning from past mistakes is key to successful strategies.

Examining California’s efforts to improve Medi-Cal managed care, this report highlights the development and implementation of a new performance-based incentive for health plan contractors in 14 counties.

This initiative is a statewide program that focuses on developing and evaluating financial and non-financial incentives to improve the quality of health care being delivered in California.

This report details the results of consumer testing in developing a prototype guide on Medi-Cal managed care quality, and how the guide was modified in response to test results.

This report lays a foundation for developing effective report design and dissemination methods for Medi-Cal managed care programs. This "how to" report examines the challenges of producing guides for low-literacy and culturally and linguistically diverse audiences.

Through interviews and a literature review, this report explores the strengths and weaknesses of consumer surveys for culturally and linguistically diverse populations and makes recommendations for improvement.

Based on interviews, this report examines how medical groups are preparing for pay-for-performance models, their priorities, and preferences for technical assistance that may support efforts to improve chronic care.

Drawing upon stakeholder interviews and lessons learned from prior initiatives, this report details the barriers, opportunities, and potential for creating a successful hospital quality reporting system in California.

This report profiles eight ambitious health care quality measurement and public reporting initiatives throughout the United States. Provided are descriptions and analyses of designing and implementing each initiative.