Stratification and standards: a quality assurance perspective. Presidential address

A diminished public respect for physicians, a decrease in professional autonomy, and an increased regulatory presence have led to extensive changes in medical practice in the past 25 years. Along with rising costs of medical care, there has been a resurgence in interest in the quality of health care, and a considerable body of literature on the monitoring and evaluation of health services has been produced. Quality assurance programs frequently evoke negative and skeptical responses from many physicians for a variety of reasons. Crucial to the potential effectiveness of quality assessment methods is the setting of standards. Physician clinicians should be strongly encouraged to participate directly and seriously in the development of standards. The quality assurance process should be viewed by physicians as an opportunity to recapture the control of the profession and to demonstrate to patients, in an objective manner, the legitimate high quality of care rendered.