title: Why is quality assurance so difficult? A review of issues in quality assurance over the last decade.
abstract: The quality assurance movement has been unable to produce major improvements in the realm of clinical practice because of an inability to make satisfactory measurements of process and/or outcome, together with the intrinsic difficulties associated with producing change. Progress in both these areas is likely to be slow. Improvements in the quality of care occurring as a result of the introduction of information technology into clinical practice may be seen more quickly.
authors.affiliation: Section of Physicians, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. Roger.Brown@mh.org.au
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care