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As the rush by payers to reimburse providers based on performance turns into a stampede, it's essential for physician groups and hospitals to band together in their approaches to quality initiatives, evidence-based medicine (EBM), pay for performance (P4P), and transparency. Such is the assessment of James Watson, principal of Professional Business Consultants in Oak Brook, IL, and Elizabeth M. Simpkin, president and founder of The Lowell Group, Inc., in Chicago, who discussed quality improvement (QI) and P4P at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's 2007 Annual National Insti-tute, held in San Diego in June.