In more of its series on Medicare, The Washington Post takes a look at quality improvement organizations (QIOs). The paper looks at the role of groups like Indiana-based Health Care Excel, which collects quality data for the government and investigates complaints at some hospitals. The planners who set up the system may have meant well, but their effectiveness has been hampered by the trend toward "a new brand of regulation that favors cooperation over discipline." Critics argue that QIOs are "unlikely to do anything that ruins their relationship with providers."
- see this story from The Washington Post