title: Core and comprehensive health care services: 2. Quality-of-care issues.
abstract: Health care services are being evaluated and redefined. Terms such as "medically necessary" and "comprehensive" are being supplanted by "core", "basic" and "optional." Quality-of-care concepts and analysis can assist decision making about which services should be insured, core services. A service is more likely to remain or become insured, and core to the system if it satisfies the key dimensions of high quality: effectiveness, appropriateness, efficiency, patient acceptance and safety. Quality of care, combined with ethical and economic considerations, provides an analytic framework for deciding whether services should be insured.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care and Promotion, Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa, Ont.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D003191:Comprehensive Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009864:Ontario; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010808:Physical Examination; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*