Definition
The Institute of Medicine defines healthcare quality as the extent to which health services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes. The care should be based on the strongest clinical evidence and provided in a technically and culturally competent manner with good communication and shared decision making.

Total quality is best defined as an attitude, an orientation that permeates an entire organization, and the way in which that organization performs its internal and external business. People who work in organizations dedicated to the concept of total quality constantly strive for excellence and continuous quality improvement in all that they do.

Pelletier & Beaudin, PhD, Q Solutions: Essential Resources for the Healthcare Quality Professional, Second Edition, (Glenview, IL: National Association for Healthcare Quality, 2008); p.3.