Quality of Care

What Does Quality of Care Mean?

Quality of Care is the measure of success for health care providers in delivering results to patients. There is no set standard for measuring quality of care. However, the three categories of structure, process, and outcomes are most often used to measure the quality sectors set out by the Institute of Medicine.

WorkplaceTesting Explains Quality of Care

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines several objectives of quality of care that can be used for measurement by health care providers. The six objectives are: that medical care is effective and efficient; that it is safe; that the care is patient-centered; and that it is equitable and timely.

From the patient's perspective, the Institute of Medicine has determined four categories for the evaluation of quality of care. These are getting better, staying healthy, living with an illness or disability, and coping with the end of life.