ABSTRACT
Organizing for quality Mapping out the terrain for our journey It is an axiomatic and now almost constant assertion in health services research, policy and practice that the healthcare systems in many developed societies, despite their relative affl uence, are plagued with dysfunction and under-achievement in the effectiveness and quality of the care they provide.1-8 This conclusion has become ever more evident and diffi cult to ignore as health services research grows more adept at measuring health outcomes and quality. For example, a recently acclaimed national study in the US by McGlynn et al.9 which looked across 439 quality indicators for 30 acute and chronic conditions, documented that only 54.9% of patients receive what is considered the recommended level of care − an astounding fi nding given the resources and sophistication associated with modern medicine.
