Quality Assurance in Mental Health Care
Jack Zusman M.D.1
1 Department of epidemiology and policy analysis at the Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33612
Quality assurance activities, in place at all institutions accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and many other agencies, are sure to play an increasing role in the mental health care field. This paper familiarizes mental health professionals with the terminology and activities of quality assurance and how they relate to other health care monitoring programs, such as utilization review, peer review, risk management, and credentialing and privileging. The historical development of quality assurance and special problems encountered in trying to quantify the quality of psychiatric care are also discussed.
