Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Western Journal of Medicine logoLink to The Western Journal of Medicine
. 1994 Mar;160(3):263–268.

A brief history of health care quality assessment and improvement in the United States.

J M Luce 1, A B Bindman 1, P R Lee 1
PMCID: PMC1022402  PMID: 8191769

Abstract

We review the history and current efforts to assess and improve health care in the United States. This process has involved a host of government agencies and commissions, professional organizations, insurance underwriters, corporations, and more recently, market forces. Traditional approaches to quality control have stressed case-by-case analysis and identifying outliers. Newer approaches include creating practice guidelines and profiles of hospitals and physicians. The joint goals of quality improvement and cost control can best be realized if institutions and practitioners embrace these new approaches and use them to enhance their performances.

Full text

PDF
263

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Berwick D. M. Continuous improvement as an ideal in health care. N Engl J Med. 1989 Jan 5;320(1):53–56. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198901053200110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blumenthal D., Epstein A. M. Physician-payment reform--unfinished business. N Engl J Med. 1992 May 14;326(20):1330–1334. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199205143262005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brennan T. A., Leape L. L., Laird N. M., Hebert L., Localio A. R., Lawthers A. G., Newhouse J. P., Weiler P. C., Hiatt H. H. Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients. Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study I. N Engl J Med. 1991 Feb 7;324(6):370–376. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199102073240604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dans P. E., Weiner J. P., Otter S. E. Peer review organizations. Promises and potential pitfalls. N Engl J Med. 1985 Oct 31;313(18):1131–1137. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198510313131806. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Demos M. P. What every physician should know about the National Practitioner Data Bank. Arch Intern Med. 1991 Sep;151(9):1708–1711. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Donabedian A. Evaluating the quality of medical care. Milbank Mem Fund Q. 1966 Jul;44(3 Suppl):166–206. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Eichhorn J. H., Cooper J. B., Cullen D. J., Maier W. R., Philip J. H., Seeman R. G. Standards for patient monitoring during anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. JAMA. 1986 Aug 22;256(8):1017–1020. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Enthoven A., Kronick R. A consumer-choice health plan for the 1990s. Universal health insurance in a system designed to promote quality and economy (1). N Engl J Med. 1989 Jan 5;320(1):29–37. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198901053200106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Enthoven A., Kronick R. A consumer-choice health plan for the 1990s. Universal health insurance in a system designed to promote quality and economy (2). N Engl J Med. 1989 Jan 12;320(2):94–101. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198901123200205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Garnick D. W., Hendricks A. M., Brennan T. A. Can practice guidelines reduce the number and costs of malpractice claims? JAMA. 1991 Nov 27;266(20):2856–2860. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Glassock R. J., Benson J. A., Jr, Copeland R. B., Godwin H. A., Jr, Johanson W. G., Jr, Point W., Popp R. L., Scherr L., Stein J. H., Taunton O. D. Time-limited certification and recertification: the program of the American Board of Internal Medicine. The Task Force on Recertification. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Jan 1;114(1):59–62. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-114-1-59. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Greenfield S., Nelson E. C., Zubkoff M., Manning W., Rogers W., Kravitz R. L., Keller A., Tarlov A. R., Ware J. E., Jr Variations in resource utilization among medical specialties and systems of care. Results from the medical outcomes study. JAMA. 1992 Mar 25;267(12):1624–1630. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hirshfeld E. B. From the Office of the General Counsel. Should practice parameters be the standard of care in malpractice litigation? JAMA. 1991 Nov 27;266(20):2886–2891. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Iglehart J. K. The Food and Drug Administration and its problems. N Engl J Med. 1991 Jul 18;325(3):217–220. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199107183250322. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Jencks S. F., Wilensky G. R. The health care quality improvement initiative. A new approach to quality assurance in Medicare. JAMA. 1992 Aug 19;268(7):900–903. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kritchevsky S. B., Simmons B. P. Continuous quality improvement. Concepts and applications for physician care. JAMA. 1991 Oct 2;266(13):1817–1823. doi: 10.1001/jama.266.13.1817. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Laffel G., Blumenthal D. The case for using industrial quality management science in health care organizations. JAMA. 1989 Nov 24;262(20):2869–2873. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Leape L. L., Brennan T. A., Laird N., Lawthers A. G., Localio A. R., Barnes B. A., Hebert L., Newhouse J. P., Weiler P. C., Hiatt H. The nature of adverse events in hospitalized patients. Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II. N Engl J Med. 1991 Feb 7;324(6):377–384. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199102073240605. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Leape L. L. Practice guidelines and standards: an overview. QRB Qual Rev Bull. 1990 Feb;16(2):42–49. doi: 10.1016/s0097-5990(16)30335-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lee P. R., Ginsburg P. B., LeRoy L. B., Hammons G. T. The Physician Payment Review Commission report to Congress. JAMA. 1989 Apr 28;261(16):2382–2385. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Localio A. R., Lawthers A. G., Brennan T. A., Laird N. M., Hebert L. E., Peterson L. M., Newhouse J. P., Weiler P. C., Hiatt H. H. Relation between malpractice claims and adverse events due to negligence. Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study III. N Engl J Med. 1991 Jul 25;325(4):245–251. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199107253250405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Lohr K. N., Schroeder S. A. A strategy for quality assurance in Medicare. N Engl J Med. 1990 Mar 8;322(10):707–712. doi: 10.1056/nejm199003083221031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Mitchell J. M., Scott E. Physician ownership of physical therapy services. Effects on charges, utilization, profits, and service characteristics. JAMA. 1992 Oct 21;268(15):2055–2059. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Mullan F., Politzer R. M., Lewis C. T., Bastacky S., Rodak J., Jr, Harmon R. G. The National Practitioner Data Bank. Report from the first year. JAMA. 1992 Jul 1;268(1):73–79. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Nash D. B. Is the quality cart before the horse? JAMA. 1992 Aug 19;268(7):917–918. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. O'Leary D. S. Beyond generic occurrence screening. JAMA. 1991 Apr 17;265(15):1993–1994. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Reynolds R. A., Rizzo J. A., Gonzalez M. L. The cost of medical professional liability. JAMA. 1987 May 22;257(20):2776–2781. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Roberts J. S., Coale J. G., Redman R. R. A history of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. JAMA. 1987 Aug 21;258(7):936–940. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Roberts J. S., Radany M. H., Nash D. B. Privilege delineation in a demanding new environment. Ann Intern Med. 1988 Jun;108(6):880–886. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-108-6-880. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Rolph J. E., Kravitz R. L., McGuigan K. Malpractice claims data as a quality improvement tool. II. Is targeting effective? JAMA. 1991 Oct 16;266(15):2093–2097. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Rubin H. R., Rogers W. H., Kahn K. L., Rubenstein L. V., Brook R. H. Watching the doctor-watchers. How well do peer review organization methods detect hospital care quality problems? JAMA. 1992 May 6;267(17):2349–2354. doi: 10.1001/jama.267.17.2349. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sanazaro P. J., Mills D. H. A critique of the use of generic screening in quality assessment. JAMA. 1991 Apr 17;265(15):1977–1981. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Schwartz W. B., Komesar N. K. Doctors, damages and deterrence. An economic view of medical malpractice. N Engl J Med. 1978 Jun 8;298(23):1282–1289. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197806082982304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Smits H. L. The PSRO in perspective. N Engl J Med. 1981 Jul 30;305(5):253–259. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198107303050504. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Wennberg J. E., Fowler F. J., Jr A test of consumer contribution to small area variations in health care delivery. J Maine Med Assoc. 1977 Aug;68(8):275–279. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Wennberg J., Gittelsohn Small area variations in health care delivery. Science. 1973 Dec 14;182(4117):1102–1108. doi: 10.1126/science.182.4117.1102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Wentz D. K., Osteen A. M., Cannon M. I. Continuing medical education. Unabated debate. JAMA. 1992 Sep 2;268(9):1118–1120. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Wilson P., Tedeschi P. Community correlates of hospital use. Health Serv Res. 1984 Aug;19(3):333–355. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Western Journal of Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES