Will quality management paradigms of the 1990s survive into the next century?

This article offers four views of the future importance of quality management. First, a pathologist author describes current controversies surrounding the viability of established schools of practice. A vice president at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations outlines the continued need for some form of total quality management and continuous quality improvement from the accreditation stance. A laboratory director from a university medical center discusses the economic changes that are fueling the continued emphasis on quality management. And, a laboratory manager from a community hospital focuses on the impact of quality management, pointing out what is required for quality management to be successful at the operational level in a laboratory. These four independent view-points reveal a clear consensus that the practice of quality management will continue to be important in our laboratories into the 21st century.