Abstract
SynopsisThis chapter focuses on application of quality assurance procedures to the management of patients with chronic diseases. The three principal themes developed are amongst the most central to effective and efficient long-term management, namely medical information systems, clinical guidelines and protocols, and patient and clinical outcomes.The present state of play of the three themes is outlined, potential methodologies and technology to apply quality assurance techniques are described, and some implementation strategies for the management of chronic disease are described.Consideration of these topics strongly suggests that quality assurance must have a high profile in the care of patients with chronic diseases. Purchasers of care now have to be confident that adequate quality assurance policies are in place. Providers of care also recognise that quality control has to be implicit in their daily practice and that quality assessment of the service that they provide is an acceptable and necessary exercise. The challenge is to involve the professions and the patient in the process of quality assurance and to prove that it is a cost-effective tool in achieving such benefits as may, or may not, be identified in the care of patients with chronic diseases.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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