The Psychiatric clinics of North America
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As we are learning to master the methods of quality assurance, a new conceptual approach focused on quality improvement is being advocated. But this new approach is not a derailment for health care practitioners committed to improve patient care quality. Rather, it is a progressive step that builds upon the concepts and methods of quality assurance. ⋯ The monitoring and evaluation process described in Joint Commission standards is a method for establishing priorities and using indicators to improve the quality of patient care. This method can be used to focus case-based review of care and to establish baselines for continuous improvement. This conceptual approach that emphasizes quality improvement and the use of the monitoring and evaluation process is guiding the Joint Commission's development of clinical indicators and revision of its standards and survey process to help health care organizations in the transition from quality assurance to quality improvement.
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Psychiatr. Clin. North Am. · Mar 1990
Introducing quality assurance to a state hospital medical staff.
Establishing a quality assurance program in a developing state hospital requires considering the unique problems of being a physician in such a setting. The hospital and medical staff must be developed to the point where consideration of quality of care is a feasible goal. Managers can take advantage of the interests of individual medical staff as well as serendipitous factors promoting a program.