A recent news story here in Ontario detailed how health officials were reviewing the results of 3,500 CT scans and mammograms at two Toronto-area hospitals because of potential errors caused by a radiologist’s “performance issue.” Although the results of that review are still pending, the story once again brought to the fore long-standing concerns with the quality of healthcare services.

Managing and improving healthcare quality is a complex issue because quality, in a healthcare setting, is a multidimensional concept. In healthcare, quality is determined not only by the ability of physicians who make diagnoses and provide treatment, but also by other attributes of service delivery such as attentiveness, care, and diligence.

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