The writing committee also reviewed existing measure sets that were publicly available. The following subsections serve as a synopsis of the revi- sions that were made to previous measures, and a description of why the new inpatient measures were created. 3.1.1. Retired Measures The writing committee decided to retire 1 performance mea- sure for smoking cessation counseling because of the consis- tently high levels of performance achieved (Table 4). Other quality measures, previously included as test measures in the 2008 measure set, were retired for the reasons specified in Table 4. 3.1.2. Revised Measures The writing committee reviewed and made changes to 4 mea- sures, which are summarized inTable 5. Most the changes were Table 3. ACC/AHA Task Force on Performance Measures: Attributes for Performance Measures26 1. Evidence Based High-impact area that is useful in improving patient outcomes a) For structural measures, the structure should be closely linked to a meaningful process of care that in turn is linked to a meaningful patient outcome. b) For process measures, the scientific basis for the measure should be well established, and the process should be closely linked to a meaningful patient outcome. c) For outcome measures, the outcome should be clinically meaningful. If appropriate, performance measures based on outcomes should adjust for relevant clinical characteristics through the use of appropriate methodology and high- quality data sources. 2. Measure Selection Measure definition a) The patient group to whom the measure applies (denominator) and the patient group for whom conformance is achieved (numerator) are clearly defined and clinically meaningful. Measure exceptions and exclusions b) Exceptions and exclusions are supported by evidence. Reliability c) The measure is reproducible across organizations and delivery settings. Face validity d) The measure appears to assess what it is intended to. 