Overview
Quality patient care is the delivery of health services that are safe, effective, timely, patient-centered, equitable, and efficient, producing the best achievable health outcomes while respecting individual needs, values, and dignity. It is frequently analyzed through frameworks that distinguish the structures within which care is provided, the processes by which it is delivered, and the outcomes it achieves, an approach exemplified by the Donabedian model used to evaluate the effectiveness of quality-improvement strategies across healthcare facilities. Achieving quality requires that patients receive appropriate, evidence-based interventions at the right time, in a safe environment that minimizes avoidable harm. Key determinants include robust infection prevention and control, reliable clinical systems and the principles of high-reliability organizations, and the use of health information technology to support consistent, error-resistant practice. The wellbeing of the workforce is integral: practitioner burnout carries direct implications for patient safety, and programmatic measures to support staff are recognized as part of sustaining quality. Continuous quality improvement relies on measurement, feedback, and the systematic redesign of processes, guided by the principle that what is measured can be improved. Attention also extends to the experience of patients and caregivers, including psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of care. Quality patient care is therefore both an ethical commitment and a measurable, systems-level discipline central to modern health services.
Research published in this journal
8 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
How this research is being cited
The 8 articles above have been cited 9 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2025 · Journal of Psychosomatic Research
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2025 · JMIR Formative Research
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2025 · JMIR Formative Research
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Andrés Camargo-Sánchez et al. · 2022 · Universidad y Salud
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2022 · Universidad y Salud
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A. Panjwani et al. · 2021 · Current Opinion in Psychiatry
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2021 · Current Opinion in Psychiatry
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2018 · Research in Psychotherapy Psychopathology Process and Outcome
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Quality Patient Care, linking to each citing work.