TY - JOUR
T1 - The quality improvement - Research divide and the need for external oversight
AU - Bellin, E.
AU - Dubler, N. N.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Historically, quality assurance studies have received scant ethical attention. The advent of information systems capable of supporting research-grade continuous quality improvement projects demands that we clearly define how these projects differ from research and when they require external review. The ethical obligation for the performance of quality assurance projects, with its emphasis on identifiable immediate action for a served population, is a critical distinction. The obligation to perform continuous quality improvement is a deliverable of the social contract entered into implicitly by patients and health care providers and systems. In this article, the authors review the ethical framework that requires these studies, evaluate the differences between quality assurance studies and classic research, and propose criteria for requiring external review.
AB - Historically, quality assurance studies have received scant ethical attention. The advent of information systems capable of supporting research-grade continuous quality improvement projects demands that we clearly define how these projects differ from research and when they require external review. The ethical obligation for the performance of quality assurance projects, with its emphasis on identifiable immediate action for a served population, is a critical distinction. The obligation to perform continuous quality improvement is a deliverable of the social contract entered into implicitly by patients and health care providers and systems. In this article, the authors review the ethical framework that requires these studies, evaluate the differences between quality assurance studies and classic research, and propose criteria for requiring external review.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.91.9.1512
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.91.9.1512
M3 - Article
C2 - 11527790
AN - SCOPUS:0034866874
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 91
SP - 1512
EP - 1517
JO - American journal of public health
JF - American journal of public health
IS - 9
ER -