title: Medicare: a strategy for quality assurance, III: Beneficiary and physician focus groups.
abstract: The third of a series on the Institute of Medicine study on a quality review and assurance program for Medicare, this article describes findings on two separate series of focus groups held with Medicare beneficiaries and with physicians in private practice. The respondents' perceptions of quality of care, understanding of the Medicare program and QA activities, and recommendations for improvement are reported directly and examined for implications for designing a coherent QA strategy. A surprising finding is that both beneficiaries and physicians define quality of care in terms of the "art of care" as well as in technical and clinical terms.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Care Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM), National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Lohr
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D006278:Medicare / Q000592:standards*; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States