1 The importance of quality in the debate on national health policy. 2 Medical quality management systems perspective / John Williamson. 3 Quality managementn in ambulatory care / Healther Palmer. 4 Impact of liability litigation on the quality of care / Dan Harper Mills, Orley H. Lindgren. 5 The era of medical care value purchasing and the role of physician executives / James B. Couch. 6 The role of clinical practice policies in quality management / David Eddy. 7 Appropriateness of acute medial care for the elderly an analysis of the literature / Robert Brook. 8 Severity standardization and hospital quality assessment / Lisa Iezzoni. 9 Emerging medical quality management support systems for hospitals / Jerome Grossman. 10 The role of clinical analysis in medical quality management / Mark H. Eckman, John B. Long, Stephen G. Pauker. 11 Popultion based measures of the quality of medical care / Philip Caper. 12 The use of large databases to monitor and manage the quality of health care / Michael Pine.