Quality Improvement Milestones
Over the years, many different milestones have influenced quality improvement efforts in health care. This Discussion is intended to help you understand how various developments have shaped contemporary perspectives and approaches to promoting health care quality.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Review the information presented in the Learning Resources, and select one milestone that you think is particularly significant or interesting.
Evaluate how this milestone has influenced health care delivery; consider positive outcomes, failures, and unintended consequences.
Consider how this milestone relates to the purpose and philosophy of quality improvement.
Reflect on Dr. Stephen Jencks's statement in the "Concepts of Quality and Patient Safety" media segment that health care quality is a national priority. Do you agree with this proposition? Why or why not? And, if so, is this true of all the dimensions of quality identified by the Institute of Medicine, or do certain dimensions receive greater attention than others? Use the Walden library and credible Web sites to conduct research so that you can support your response with examples from recent health policy developments and/or other current events.