External quality mechanisms for health care: summary of the ExPeRT projecton visitatie, accreditation, EFQM and ISO assessment in European Union countries

This paper is a summary of the operation, findings and conclusions of a Eur opean Union project on external peer review techniques, termed 'ExPeRT', to research the scope, mechanisms and use of external quality mechanisms in t he improvement of health care. Many of the themes outlined are described in detail in other papers that have been prepared specifically for this issue of The International Journal for Quality in Health Care. Although the emph asis of this project and of this issue of the Journal is on Europe, the con clusions are more widely relevant.