Efforts to determine the quality of care, to develop and maintain programs to keep it at an acceptable level (quality control), to institute improvements when the opportunity arises or the care does not meet standards (quality improvement), and to provide, to all concerned, the evidence required to establish confidence that quality is being managed and maintained at the desired level. (These are the same elements that are inherent in industrial quality management.) The advantages of the term “quality management” over “quality assurance” are: (1) there is no implication of a “guarantee,” an idea which may be suggested by the use of the word “assurance,” which is sometimes used as a synonym for “insurance”; and (2) “quality management” is more accurate, since the achievement of quality depends on people carrying out their responsibilities without error, and getting people to perform is the task of management.
A measurement and assessment system designed to regulate variations in equipment, procedures, processes, or evaluations.