Abstract
The potential conflict between cost containment practices and the preservation of quality care is reviewed and discussed. Then a framework for considering the present state of knowledge about the relationship between different methods of cost containment and quality is presented. The view that cost containment poses a threat to the quality of care is advanced and the provider's central role in the containment of costs and the safeguarding of quality is examined.
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Avedis Donabedian, M.D., M.P.H., is with the Department of Medical Care Organization, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
This paper is based on an address delivered at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the American College of Mental Health Administration, Dearborn, Michigan, October 21, 1984. The work from which the paper derives was supported, at one time or another, by the National Center for Health Services Research, the Commonwealth Fund, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress, but the opinions and conclusions expressed in the paper are meant to represent no one other than the author.
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Donabedian, A. Some thoughts on cost containment and the quality of health care. Administration in Mental Health 13, 5–14 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00819230
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00819230