Abstract
From the Editor-In-Chief Health AffairsVol. 7, No. 1 From the EditorJohn K. IglehartyPUBLISHED:Spring 1988Free Accesshttps://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.7.1.4AboutSectionsView PDFPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsDownload Exhibits TOPICSQuality of careHospital quality The issues around the quality of medical care rendered by America's physicians, nurses, and hospitals have become a subject of increasing complexity, confusion, and public interest. Given that development, we have devoted this issue of Health Affairs to papers that seek to illuminate readers about current concerns stemming from the quality question. The opening essay by Kathleen Lohr, Karl Yordy, and Samuel Thier of the Institute of Medicine is an overview that touches on the many issues that revolve around the quality issue. Following, David Eddy of Duke University and John Billings, an independent consultant, assert that the greatest potential for improving quality is by a closer examination of the science base of medicine. Allyson Ross Davies and John Ware of The RAND Corporation make the case for patients' involvement in the search for quality. Philip Caper of the Codman Research Group discusses the evolution of quality issues and how the medical profession has employed the concept to protect its autonomy. Next, Mark Blumberg of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan explores the variations in surgical care delivered by hospitals in Maryland. Last, I conducted an interview with Walter McClure, the peripatetic market advocate who is seeking to energize change at the community level. Following, three Commentaries by William Roper and Glenn Hackbarth of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), John Wennberg of Dartmouth Medical School, and Jennifer Daley and Thomas Delbanco of Beth Israel Hospital and Paul Gertman of Health Systems Architects, Inc. address other dimensions of the quality of care issue. Three DataWatches are also included; one is our annual health status survey by Gerry Hendershot; a second by Bruce Vladeck and colleagues discusses the impact of HCFA's hospital mortality data; and a third by Allen Dobson and Elizabeth Hoy takes a new look at how hospitals are profiting under Medicare. The GrantWatch essay examines the role of foundations in nursing. Health Affairs is indebted to the John A. Hartford Foundation for its support in underwriting the costs of producing this issue. The program officer with whom we worked, Mary Paulsen, was a splendid partner. She provided counsel when we sought it, but left to our editorial judgment the commissioning of papers and the selection of other content. Loading Comments... Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. DetailsExhibitsReferencesRelated Article MetricsCitations: Crossref 1 History Published online 1 January 1988 InformationCopyright © by Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.Cited ByA Personal History of the Evolution of Health Status AssessmentJournal of Public Health Management and Practice, Vol. 23
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