title: [Total quality: priority objective to improve the services of health facilities].
abstract: The increasing attention turned to the "total quality" inside health services is pointed out in the article. The development of this theme started in the United States and subsequently reached Europe. In Italy only since a few years we are noticing initiatives aiming both to the improvement of health services quality and to the relationship with clients. The main elements of the total quality management are pointed out: they are addressed to the satisfaction of clients expectations in an environment involving the whole health personnel towards the continuous quality improvement.
authors.affiliation: A2. Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale e di Alta Specializzazione Civico e Befratelli, G. di Cristina e M. Ascoli, Palermo.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marotta
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States