Measuring quality of care in physicians' offices.

Quality ultimately is not solely the province of the physician. The chain of responsibility to prevent and treat disease is complex. It involves not only physicians and patients but also the payors of health care who are demanding more involvement in health care decision making. Payors want understandable information upon which to base their decisions. They are acquiring the means and the resolve to direct their patients to those who will effectively report such information and away from those who will not. Accordingly, physicians should be able to explain their quality assurance methods and be willing to demonstrate and document quality of care in their offices.