Douglas McCarthy, M.B.A., is senior research adviser to The Commonwealth Fund and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass. He conducts qualitative research on state and local efforts to promote health system transformation, supports The Commonwealth Fund’s scorecard project, and is a contributing editor to the bimonthly newsletter Quality Matters. Previously, he was president of Issues Research, Inc., in Durango, Colorado. His 25-year career has spanned research, policy, operations, and consulting roles for government, corporate, academic, and philanthropic organizations. He has au¬thored and coauthored reports and peer-reviewed articles on a range of health care–related topics, including 50 case studies of high-performing organizations and initiatives. A Chartbook on the Quality of Health Care in the United States, coauthored with Sheila Leatherman, was named by AcademyHealth as one of 20 core books in the field of health outcomes. Mr. McCarthy received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Yale College and a master’s degree in health care management from the University of Connecticut. During 1996–1997, he was a public policy fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.