Bucket 1:  National Quality Agenda
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2006 update on consumers’ views of patient safety and quality information. Available at: http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/7560.pdf.

Pham HH, Coughlan J, O’Malley AS. The impact of quality-reporting programs on hospital operations. Health Aff (Millwood). 2006; 25(5):1412-22.

Paying for performance: a call for quality health care. Washington, DC: Deloitte Center for Health Solutions; 2006.

Rewarding provider performance: aligning incentives in Medicare (Pathways to Quality Health Care Series). Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2006.

Bucket 2:  Measurement of Quality Improvement (QI)
Davidoff F, Batalden P. Toward stronger evidence on quality improvement. Draft publication guidelines: the beginning of a consensus project. Qual Saf Health Care. 2005; 14:319-25.

Berwick DM, James B, Coye MJ. Connections between quality measurement and improvement. Med Care. 2003; 41(1 suppl):I30-8.

Carey RG, Lloyd RC. Measuring quality improvement in healthcare. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2001.

Tools for performance measurement in health care: a quick reference guide. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2001.

Bucket 3:  QI/Performance Improvement Methodologies
James B. Quality improvement opportunities in health care—making it easy to do it right. J Manage Care Pharm. 2002; 8(5):394-9.

James BC. Implementing practice guidelines through clinical quality improvement. Front Health Serv Manage. 1993; 10(1):3-37.

Miscellaneous
Wheeler DJ. Understanding variation: the key to managing chaos. 2nd ed. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press; 2000.

Doing more with less: lean thinking and patient safety in health care. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2006.

Using performance improvement tools in health care settings. 3rd ed. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2005.

Cost-effective performance improvement in hospitals. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2004.

Putting evidence to work: tools and resources. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2003.

Improving Healthcare Quality Series. Part I: Using Run Charts. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2002.

Improving Healthcare Quality Series. Part II: Using Control Charts. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 2002.