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Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.9.2.foc153

The aim of this article is to assist psychiatrists in meeting their responsibilities to better understand their patients and improve the quality of medical care that they receive. The importance of quality, the state of health care quality, and health care aims and expectations are reviewed. In addition, integration of strategies to build a stronger infrastructure to support the delivery of high-quality mental health care is discussed at both the clinical and systems/policy levels. At the systems/policy level the following are addressed: 1) how to achieve consensus and greater specificity on standard elements, methods, assessment tools, and treatment guidelines and provide applications to implement them in clinical practice using health information technology; 2) how to establish methods to measure the quality of mental health care delivered to patients and provide support and incentives for clinicians and organizations to adopt care improvement strategies, including building the measurement and monitoring infrastructure, designing improvement incentives, providing training/support for organizational improvement methods, and updating clinical training/accreditation/certification standards; and 3) how to develop leadership and resources to expand the evidence base to have a direct impact on health care decision making by patients, clinicians, and policymakers (i.e., comparative effectiveness research). Although the 2010 health care reform legislation (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) emphasizes health care insurance coverage issues, it contributes further strategies to help transform U.S. health care delivery system to improve quality and reduce cost. This article offers aid to clinicians for navigating and participating in the professional changes ahead.