title: Quality assurance.
abstract: The use of the terms "quality," "quality control," and "quality assurance" has been thrust recently upon us in descriptions of products and services. There is a great deal of confusion and inappropriate use of these terms. A historical search of the use of these terms in the past five decades indicated that quality is a subjective term that connotes excellence and reliability of performance. Quality control is concerned with ensuring compliance with prior agreed upon specifications. Quality assurance is concerned with reviewing the performance of products and services after the use of products and services. In this paper, I propose a process by which quality assurance can be achieved. Also, I list a few values for compliance with quality assurance programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Shamoo
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States