This article has been corrected. The original version (PDF) is appended to this article as a
supplement. The Joint Commission recently proposed candidate performance measures
addressing unhealthy substance use in hospitalized patients. The proposed measures of
screening and brief intervention (SBI) assume that interventions that work in one setting
(primary care outpatient practice) would work in another (hospital); treatment would have the
same benefits for persons identified by screening as for those with symptoms who seek help; …

TO THE EDITOR: Saitz's recent article (1) lends an important perspective on a critically
important topic. We agree completely that performance measures must be evidence-based
to be credible for use in an accountability context (2). However, we believe it is important to
note that the candidate performance measures Saitz discusses represent a subset of a very
early iteration of a candidate performance measure set pertinent to alcohol and tobacco use
that is currently being tested in the field by The Joint Commission. References to drug use …