[Assessment of methodological quality of clinical performance measures]

One of the tasks of the federal "Coordinating Committee" within Germany's self-governing health care system is to develop clinical performance measures. Since these performance measures usually exert an enormous influence on health care delivery their methodological quality should meet highest standards. The aim of our study was to develop quality requirements for clinical performance measures to be used in Germany; we did this mainly by compiling internationally published criteria. We present lists of quality requirements for clinical performance measures and performance assessment programs as well as a checklist for documenting and assessing comprehensively the methodological quality of these measures. Developing clinical performance measures by using these criteria could improve their methodological quality and promote the objectivity of performance assessment in medical care.