Electronic healthcare data collection and pay-for-performance: translating theory into practice.

With insight grounded in his work for a national data collection consortium and as Vice President of Quality and Outcomes at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, the author connects the theory of pay-for-performance to the realities of its implementation. The author expands the Diagnosing the Data conversation by describing the challenges of collecting meaningful data and by addressing the potential legal issues that data use raises. Drawing on his national and local experience, the author concludes with suggestions for adopting data collection programs that are both clinically relevant and scientifically reliable.