In a one to two- page essay, describe how quality assurance (QA) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) are different
Quality
Quality is essential in any business that provides services or products. It is of particular importance in long-term care for several reasons:
The relationship between providers and consumers is highly personal.
That relationship usually extends over a long period.
In institutional care, the facility is the consumer’s home, and quality of life becomes more important than clinical quality to most consumers.
As in all of health care, there is little room for error since poor quality of care contributes to poor quality of life.
Quality – Difficult to Define
Quality is difficult to define because of the following:
It means different things to different people.
It’s a matter of judgment.
It involves both technical care and interpersonal exchanges.
Quality Programs – QA and CQI
Long-term care providers use several types of programs to measure and assure quality. The most common quality programs are Quality Assurance (QA) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). There are both similarities and differences when the two programs are compared as seen below.