ABSTRACT
It is an axiom that all clinicians aspire to provide quality care. Until recently, however, few have tried to define it, measure it, and, most importantly, subject their own clinical work to scrutiny. One of the mandates of managed care includes the evaluation, monitoring, and improvement of the quality of care to provide a better clinical product than would otherwise occur in unmanaged systems. Systems of care which develop a superior capacity to provide quality care than currently found in unexamined, unorganized practice should, in the managed care scenario, have a competitive advantage and enhanced chance of surviving in the new public sector managed care (PSMC) environment.
