This document discusses quality assurance in healthcare. It defines quality and identifies factors that influence quality like cost and volume. It examines quality from different perspectives like users, providers and purchasers of healthcare. Two philosophies of quality - Maxwell's dimensions and Donabedian's structure-process-outcome model - are also discussed. The document then covers topics like total quality management, benchmarking, standards, auditing steps and different methods to measure quality in areas like nursing care and educational provision.