Quality improvement and management in a dermatology office

Dermatologists must develop an office quality improvement (QI) program to document the quality of care. This activity is being monitored by health maintenance organizations, insurance companies, and accreditation organizations, such as the Accreditation Association ibr Ambulatory Health Care,(1) the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, acid the National Committee for Quality Assurance.(2) The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care considers quality management and improvement to he an essential standard for accreditation. This article will present a QI program that links QI activities, peer review, and risk management in an organized, systematic manner. Through the use of a QI program, patient outcomes can be documented in an office setting.