ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, Graham described health-care quality as “the optimal achievable result for each patient, the avoidance of iatrogenic complications, and the attention to patient and family needs in a manner that is cost-effective and reasonably documented” [1]. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) denes quality in health care as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of achieving desirable outcomes and the degree to which they are consistent with current professional knowledge” [2]. The IOM further states that health care should be safe, patient-centered, timely, efcient, and equitable. Quality care should be a given for all health-care customers; to assure that it is, regulatory oversight is required.
