[The continuous improvement process in mental health services management]

The basic tenet of continuous quality improvement is that there is always room for additional improvement in the clinical care provided to patients. The opportunities for this improvement come from the analysis of information collected during the ongoing monitoring of important elements of care. The provision of clinical psychiatric care is seen as a complex process that is dependent on the effective functioning of all of the health and mental health care organization. The concept of continuous quality improvement is the most recent stage in a long process of defining and redefining the basic goals and tenants of medical and psychiatric quality assurance. The determination of the actual improvement of psychiatric and mental health care due to quality assurance is a substantial and important technical problem. The determination of the value of this improvement in mental health care is an even greater ethical and social problem.