Managing quality in primary health care: the need for valid information about performance

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Abstract
After years of neglect, governments and funding agencies in many countries have become interested in the potential of primary health care to slow the inexorable rise in expenditure on health care. But if this potential is to become a reality, primary health care services must be developed. In consequence, new training programmes for general practitioners have been established, national and international academies and associations have emerged, governments have increased investment in primary health care services, and new policies have been tried, to be replaced by further new policies when the original ones are found wanting. As primary care systems have become more complex, increasingly elaborate forms of management have become necessary. At the same time, concern among patients and policy makers about the quality of care has driven the development of policies for quality improvement. But in order to manage the quality of care, information is essential.

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