title: Quality assurance: an overview and outline for gastrointestinal endoscopy.
abstract: Insuring the quality of medical care in the prevailing climate of cost containment is a concern shared by providers of health care and patients alike. For most practicing physicians, however, little has been included in their medical training to introduce them to the health care discipline of quality assurance. In the following review of that topic, medical care is conceptually divided into the elements of structure, process, and outcome, as originally proposed by Donabedian. The use of measurement to identify possible problems within these three areas of medical care is then explored. Finally, a variety of quality assurance projects, all pertaining to gastrointestinal endoscopy, serve to illustrate the principles discussed.
authors.affiliation: Maine Medical Center, Portland.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Wexler
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care