Keeping quality on the policy agenda

Quality of care in the United States and elsewhere consistently fails to me et established standards. These failures subject patients to premature deat h and needless suffering. Yet, unlike the experience with other threats to life (tire failures or airplane rudders), public and private policymakers h ave been unable to maintain sufficient interest in identifying and solving problems with quality to change the way in which care is delivered. We disc uss why it is hard to keep quality on the policy agenda and suggest short-t erm steps that are necessary if quality is to improve here and in the rest of the world.