The role of IT in health care quality assessment.

THE CONCEPT OF QUALITY IN HEALTH CARE IS NOTHING NEW. As far back as 3000 B.C., the Code of Hammurabi dictated, “If a doctor, in opening an abscess, shall kill the patient, his hands shall be cut off.”Suffice it to say, medical error was not taken lightly back then. Centuries later, in 400 B.C., Hippocrates offered a more humane approach to quality in his Epidemics when he advised, “As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help, or at least to do no harm.” While we’re not cutting off caregivers’ hands today, we’re also not just leaving it up to them simply “do no harm.” Indeed, in just about every constituency in health care—from patients and payers, to providers, employers, regulatory agencies and professional organizations— quality of care is a top-of-mind issue.