An Introduction to Quality Assurance in Health Care

Avedis Donabedians name is synonymous with quality of medical care. He unravelled the mystery behind the concept by defining it in clear operational terms and provided detailed blueprints for both its measurement (known as quality assessment) and its improvement (known as quality assurance). Many before him claimed that quality couldnt be defined in concrete objective terms. He demonstrated that quality is an attribute of a system which he called structure, a set oforganized activities which he called process, and an outcome which results from both. In this book Donabedian tells the full story of quality assessment and assurance in simple, clear terms. He defines the meaning of quality, explicates its components, and provides clear and systematic guides to its assessmentand enhancement. His style is lucid, succinct, systematic and yet personal, almost conversational.