Background: Quality improvement in healthcare organisations requires structural
reorganisation and systems reform, and also the development of an appropriate …

There are no easy solutions to the problem of improving the quality of care. Research has
shown how difficult it can be, but has failed to provide reliable and effective ways to change …

Background Formal evaluations of programmes are an important source of learning about
the challenges faced in improving quality in healthcare and how they can be addressed. The …

Information about the quality of care is essential if quality is to be managed eVectively, but
information is diYcult to come by in primary care. Systems for providing primary health care …

Total quality management activities have produced undeniable positive results. However, I
predict that the way these activities are implemented will lead to the programs becoming …

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine defined high-quality healthcare as care that is safe,
effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient and equitable. 1 Subsequently, efforts to improve …

The discussion on quality of care has come a long way: from the efforts and research of
visionaries such as Ernest Codman and Avedis Donabedian in the 1970s to the introduction …

In response to increasing concerns about quality, many countries are carrying out large
scale programmes which include national quality strategies, hospital programmes, and …

Quality improvement initiatives take many forms, from the creation of standards for health
professionals, health technologies and health facilities, to audit and feedback, and from …

Objective: This survey provides an overview of the development of policies and strategies for
quality improvement in European healthcare systems, by mapping quality improvement …