FOLLOWING THE BOUNCING BALL OF QUALITY

Quality of health care is important to all individuals. As an area for research and evaluation, quality is of considerable interest to a wid e variety of professionals. Increasingly, independent assessments of t he quality of care have become important components of purchasing for employers and consumers. This article offers a personal perspective on the emerging trends in quality and identifies several related implica tions, with behavioral health examples, as well as opportunities for i nterested evaluation researchers.