Avedis Donabedian's name is synonymous with quality of medical care. He unraveled the mystery behind the concept by defining it in clear operational terms and provided detailed blueprints for both its measurement(known as quality assessment) and its improvement(known as quality assurance). Many before him claimed that quality couldn't be defined in concrete objective terms. He demonstrated that quality is an attribte of a system which he called structure, a set of organized activities whihc he called process, and an outcome which results from both. In this book Donabedian tells the full story of quality assessment and assurance in simple, clear terms. He defines the meaning of quality, explicates its components, and provides clear and systematic guides to its assessment and enhancement. His style is lucid, succinct, systematic and yet personal, almost conversational.

Introduction; 1. The Components of Quality in Health Care; 2. Determining What to Monitor; 3. Determining Priorities in Monitoring; 4. Selecting Approaches to Assessing Performance; 5. Formulating Criteria and Standards; 6. Obtaining the Necessary Information; 7. Choosing When and How to Monitor; 8. Constructing a Monitoring System; 9. Bringing About Behavior Change; 10. The Effectiveness of Quality Monitoring

Avedis Donabedian

"The book provides an excellent and refreshing summary statement of his scholarly articles and three-volume work in defining, monitoring, and assessing quality in healthcare...he provides a valuable example of how important it is to formulate a conceptual framework in the effort to improve the quality of healthcare."--Doody's