Quality of care for coronary heart disease in two countries

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States a nd England, and each country devotes substantial resources to its preventio n and treatment. We review recent strategies for improving quality of care for coronary heart disease in each country, including clinical guidelines; national standards; performance reports; benchmarking, feedback, and profes sional leadership; and market-oriented approaches. These strategies highlig ht the importance of information systems, organizational culture, and incen tives to improve the quality of care in both the decentralized health care system of the United States and England's more centralized system.