I’d say elements of both criticisms are true, but both also lack nuance. The federal government actually has a fair amount of experience measuring quality, as evidenced by HHS’ Hospital Compare; whether such measurement translates into improvement remains to be seen. Regarding Heritage, we know that when physicians are entirely left to their own devices, non-evidence-based care can result. However, requiring levels of 100% compliance for given quality measures can result in too much medicine, and also does not leave room for patient preferences as well as physician autonomy.
