ABSTRACT
Quality assurance (QA) refers to the program of steps necessary to maximize customers’ confidence in the reliability and utility of a product. Within health care systems, maintaining and improving quality typically involves a multitude of procedures, mechanisms, and interventions designed to evaluate health care services, identify and remove barriers to care, and enhance outcomes. QA is an active process that focuses on implementing change within organizations or systems within organizations. It is this focus on change that differentiates QA from other health care system structures that use more passive approaches in an attempt to change responses to the system, rather than changing the system itself.
