What is Quality

In order to define quality one may refer to several definitions that present the concept most eloquently. 

• Quality is conformance to requirements or specification – Philip Crosby, 1978

• Quality is doing the right thing right the first time and doing it better the next – AI-Assaf, 1993

• Quality is the degree to which care services influence the probability of optimal patient outcomes – American Medical Association, 1991

• Quality is meeting the requirements of the customers, both internally and externally, for defect free products and services – IBM, 1982

• Quality is providing our customers with innovative products and services that fully satisfy their requirements – Xerox , 1983

• Quality therefore is a process of meeting the needs and expectations of the customers, both internal and external. Quality can also be referred to as a continuous process of incremental improvement – AI- Assaf, 1998 

What is Quality in Health Care

• Quality is a set of attributes of health services that have impact on effectiveness of services in terms of reduction of morbidity and related complications, mortality and disability.

• Quality of health services is proper performance (according to standards) of interventions that are known to be safe, that are affordable to the society in questions and that have the ability to produce an impact on mortality, morbidity, disability and malnutrition (Romer,MI & C.Montoya Aguilar, WHO 1988)

• Quality of care is defined as, the extent to which health care services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. In order to achieve this: Health care needs to be safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and people-centred. (WHO)

Safe: delivering health care which minimizes risks and harm to service users.

Effective: delivering health care that is adherent to an evidence base and results in improved health outcomes for individuals and communities, based on need.

Timely: Reducing delays in providing and receiving health care.

Efficient: Delivering health care in a manner that maximizes resource use and avoids waste.

Equitable: Delivering health care that does not differ in quality according to personal characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, geographical location or socioeconomic status.

People-centred: Delivering health care which takes into account the preferences and aspirations of individual service users and the cultures of their communities.

• Quality Health care is care that is needed and delivered in a manner that is competent, caring, cost effective and timely and minimize risk and achieves achievable benefits

• Quality of care is a key component of the right to health. In order to achieve universal health coverage, it is essential to deliver health services that meet quality criteria.