According to a 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the quality of alcohol treatment ranked dead last among the study's assessment of treatment for the nation's 25 leading causes of death, illness, hospitalization and doctors' visits.Businesses, government and health care providers have acknowledged--through the adoption of performance measures for addiction treatment--that the quality of alcohol treatment matters and that performance measurement can improve quality. Beginning in 2004, the nation's leading health accreditation group, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), will ask health care providers to measure and report their success in engaging people with alcohol and other drug problems in treatment.