Keeping quality on the policy agenda.
Quality of care in the United States and elsewhere consistently fails to meet established standards. These failures subject patients to premature death and needless suffering. Yet, unlike the experience with other threats to life (tire failures or airplane rudders), public and private policymakers have been unable to maintain sufficient interest in identifying and solving problems with quality to change the way in which care is delivered. We discuss why it is hard to keep quality on the policy agenda and suggest short-term steps that are necessary if quality is to improve here and in the rest of the world.
McGlynn
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EA
Center for Research on the Quality of Health Care, RAND Health, Santa Monica, California, USA.
Brook
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RH
D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011639:Public Opinion; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017751:Safety Management; D014481:United States