Crossing the quality chasm: lessons from health care quality improvement efforts in England

Rajan Madhok, MB, MSc, FRCS, FFPHM

From East Riding and Hull Health Authority, Willerby, Hull, England.

Corresponding author: Rajan Madhok, MB, MSc, FRCS, FFPHM, East Riding and Hull Health Authority, Willerby, Hull HU10 6DT, England (e-mail: rajan.madhok@eriding-ha.northy.nhs.uk).

The second report from the US Institute of Medicine, Crossing the Quality Chasm, highlighted the deficiencies in health care quality in the USA, analyzed the contributory factors, and proposed 13 recommendations for improvements. Clearly, the challenges are enormous. Can anything be learned from the experiences of other countries? This article describes the author's experiences of health care quality improvement efforts in the National Health Service in England and their implications for the USA and for Baylor Health Care System. (BUMC Proceedings 2002;15:77-85)