[Priorities of progress in evaluating and monitoring quality of care]

This paper discusses the following priorities: redefining and widening the scope of assessment, redefining assessment methods, redesigning and evaluating quality assurance systems, promoting consumer participation, professionalizing quality assurance, and creating a supportive culture. The article proposes empirical assessment of quality assurance methods as the highest priority. It concludes with the idea that seeking quality is the ethical dimension of professional life. Therefore, all reasonable efforts towards monitoring quality will be successful. Without this, the cleverest monitoring systems will fact.