Basics of quality improvement

Abstract

In today's healthcare field, an increasing focus is placed on medical errors, cost-effective medicine, public reporting, and pay for performance. As a result, payers and patients have turned to quality improvement (QI) as a strategy and framework to address specific concerns within the current healthcare system. Internal QI is vital to the ability of a healthcare organization or practice to fulfill many goals including, but not limited to, maintaining the fiduciary relationship between the physician and the patient, enhancing medical care and care delivery, simplifying and streamlining procedures, reducing costs, increasing patient and provider satisfaction, and enhancing workplace morale and productivity. External QI is crucial for physician education, licensure and certification, benchmarking, accreditation, and health policy formulation. This chapter introduces quality management theories and practices that have evolved over the past 40 years and highlights some of the themes that have marked progress within the field. It also addresses the policies, philosophies, and processes that characterize the QI field today.