title: Medicare: a strategy for quality assurance, I: A recapitulation of the study and a definition of quality of care.
abstract: The first of a series of articles on the Institute of Medicine study on a quality review and assurance program for Medicare, this article reviews the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the IOM study committee and discusses the quality-of-care definition, which became a focal point for the report. A QA system should achieve a balance among important dimensions of "quality of care;" several such dimensions were identified. Turning the definition into practical measurement and intervention approaches and implementing a QA strategy based on it remain significant challenges.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Lohr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harris-Wehling
mesh_terms: D006278:Medicare / Q000592:standards*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States