Continuous Quality Improvement

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CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Continuous quality improvement is a concept originally taken from business literature. It is a management philosophy of ensuring that the needs of those who use the services and products of an organization are continually being met. This is accomplished by constantly searching for opportunities to improve all processes. Continuous quality improvement principles are now being used in areas of medical and public health practice in an effort to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of services. These principles include strong leader-ship, employee empowerment to address problems, and the use of visual tools such as bar charts or histograms to analyze and evaluate progress. In addition, efforts are made to achieve standards of excellence rather than minimum standards.

Amy F. Lee

(see also: Continuous Quality Assessment; Peer Review )

Bibliography

Berwick, D. (1989). "Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health Care." New England Journal of Medicine 320 (1):5356.

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