Providing quality care to patients with schizophrenia

With the increasing use of evidence-based medicine and the welcome introduction of innovations such as computer technology into daily practice, there is now the opportunity to link these two new approaches to the awareness of quality measurement within psychiatry. As awareness of costs in medical treatment increases, the emphasis on quality management increases, which makes it increasingly more important that quality standards are set using the available treatment guidelines. When set, these standards can be applied and eventually measured. Only then can quality management be put into practice. The use of treatment guidelines for the holistic treatment of psychiatry patients now is being actively encouraged in many treatment settings. These guidelines form a potential basis for more effective treatment. Only by implementing a measurement process of treatment outcomes will the true value of these guidelines be appreciated.