In this book, we first provide an extensive introduction to the topic of accountability in health care to set the stage for the growth, interest, and demand for information on quality of medical care. The chapters that follow our introduction are dedicated to issues surrounding (1) the federal government's influence on quality of care initiatives; (2) the contributions of state data organizations; (3) the information demands from business coalitions on health; (4) the information needs of health care purchasers; (5) the impact of accountability demands on hospitals;(6) the compatibility of public accountability efforts with quality improvement programs; (7) the responsibility of physicians for outcomes of medical care; and (8)perspectives on future directions in health care accountability.