Quality, CQI, and reengineering in health services organizations

Quality in health care is defined with a focus on satisfying customer needs. The contemporary management philosophies of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and reengineering are defined; attributes and applications of each are described. Criticism of reengineering appearing in the literature is presented. It is likely that CQI will remain a predominate management philosophy in health services, while reengineering may not endure in its form of radical change.