Reviewer Comments: (1) "Quality management in hospitals is increasingly prevalent but there is a lack of good quality textbooks that address the topic from a data management point of view, as does this book. Ill use the book for teaching purposes. " . . . (2) "I think this is a sorely needed topic." . . . (3) "This book would be something valuable in the field." . . .(4) "I would use the book both professionally and in the academic setting. I currently teach a course on health information technology and medical economics for med students. I think the book would be valuable in both settings." . This book for students and faculty in health administration programs, nursing programs, and professionals who manage?health departments or facilities, explains different performance measurement methods in health care and connects them with their practical impact on clinical patient outcomes. The objective for the reader is to form a complete understanding of how data is used to reveal the empirical experience of actual bedside care. Using measurements it becomes possible to translate individual aspects of care into discrete, objective and analyzable phenomena. The author, a social scientist with more than 20 years' experience working in health care institutions, orients the reader with a historical perspective on the transition from a physician-centered, volume-based reimbursement system to a quality-driven, data-centered culture and then moves into the primary roles of performance assessment and outcomes measure in the current health care environment.