A study by Peter K. Lindenauer, M.D., M.Sc., et al., published in last week’s New England Journal of Medicine concludes that a combination of public reporting and pay for performance programs produce a modest improvement in health care quality over public reporting programs alone. (The entire study is available at the link.) The New England Journal editorializes that pay for performance is at the tipping point.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have a less nuanced view of the study’s results, according to Government Health IT magazine. CMS notes that the Medicare pay for performance pilot has “saved the lives of 1,284 heart attack patients.”