as the Center ) or such other agency determined appropriate by the Secretary, in coordination with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other offices of the Department of Health and Human Services. (b) Duties of the center The Center shall perform the following duties: (1) Review and evaluate each practice guideline developed under part B of title IX of the Public Health Service Act. In so reviewing and evaluating, the Center shall determine whether the guideline should be recognized as a national practice guideline in accordance with and subject to the provisions of section 203(c). (2) Review and evaluate each standard of quality, performance measure, and medical review criterion developed under part B of title IX of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 299 et seq. ). In so reviewing and evaluating, the Center shall determine whether the standard, measure, or criterion is appropriate for use in assessing or reviewing the quality of items and services provided by health care institutions or health care professionals. The use of mechanisms that discriminate against people with disabilities is prohibited for use in any value or cost-effectiveness assessments. The Center shall consider the evidentiary basis for the standard, and the validity, reliability, and feasibility of measuring the standard. (3) Adoption of methodologies for profiling the patterns of practice of health care professionals and for identifying and notifying outliers. (4) Development of minimum criteria for competence for entities that can qualify to conduct ongoing and continuous external quality reviews in the administrative regions. Such criteria shall require such an entity to be administratively independent of the individual or board that administers the region and shall ensure that such entities do not provide financial incentives to reviewers to favor one pattern of practice over another. The Center shall ensure coordination and reporting by such entities to ensure national consistency in quality standards. (5)