Quality Assurance in the Emergency Department

Quality assurance (QA) of care in the emergency department encompasses activities ensuring that the care provided meets applicable standards. Health care delivery is complex and many factors affect quality of care. Thus, quantification of health care quality is challenging, especially with regard to attribution of outcomes to various factors contributing to such care. A critical component of the process of QA is determination of quality health care and the concept of (unjustified) deviation from the reference applicable standard of care.