Quality assessment and assurance: unity of purpose, diversity of means.

Abstract

In this paper I attempt to advance our understanding and appreciation of the several contributions to this anthology by placing their more important features in a unifying framework. In this way I hope to show their historical antecedents, their interrelationships, and their linkages to the central problems and purposes of quality assessment and assurance. But above all, I celebrate our rededication to quality in health care.