Quality Improvements By Providers: Market Developments Hinder Progress

September/October 2002
Health Affairs , Vol. 21, No. 5
Kelly Devers

roviders report maintaining, but not greatly enhancing, their quality improvement (QI) programs between 1999 and 2001. In addition, recent market developments are intensifying barriers to providers' QI efforts. A notable exception is the tremendous attention to medical errors, which is stimulating patient-safety activities in hospitals. It is too early to tell if the momentum from these activities can be sustained and provide a spark for revolutionary changes in QI more broadly.

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