From the Editors

In this issue, we begin our year-long focus on effective primary care systems, opening up critical lines of questioning around a fundamental issue: evaluation. How do we know whether a primary care system is making the grade, getting stronger or falling short? If we build it, what should it yield? There are myriad ways and measures to assess the quality, performance and outcomes of primary care systems (and ample arguments about which are best). What standards should primary care systems meet? What bars should be set, at what height, and to what end? What knowledge, skills and data are required ߝ and available ߝ to evaluate primary care models? Are evaluation results driving primary care quality improvement (QI) big and small?