What is the difference between a performance measure and standard of care?
A performance measure provides an indication of an organization’s performance in relation to a specified process or outcome. Standards of care are guidelines that outline the expectations of care around a specific issue or topic and are created by a group of subject matter or clinical experts. Because performance measures and standards of care each serve a different purpose, they are not always in accordance. For instance, with the Medical Visit performance measure, the standard of care states that routine monitoring should occur at least every three to four months depending on the stage of disease. For the purpose of the performance measure, the time frame of six months was determined by clinical expert consensus to allow for those patients that are well controlled clinically and stable on their current regimen. Per the guidelines, patients can and should be seen at more frequent intervals as dictated by their current health status.
