Abstract: Abstract Since the 1990s, new definitions, new institutions, and new quality evaluation tools have appeared in most Western nations. Two emblematic tools in this new focus on quality are medical recommendations and initiatives for management within health care organizations. This article aims not to justify and compare the effectiveness of these tools in the actual improvement of quality of care but rather to discuss the appearance of these tools and their effects on the content of medical work and on power relations between doctors, government, and the public. The attention focused on quality of care has caused a resurgence in debates over the autonomy and power of health care professionals, physicians in particular. Quality of care has become an indicator of changes in the regulation of medical professionals, passing from self‐regulation to a more hybrid form, leaving more power to government, to health care insurers, and to the public. The evaluation and improvement of quality of care does increase the role of government and payers, but it does not necessarily lead – at least not at the present time – to the reinforcement of constraints and controls on the content of medical work.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-02-21
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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