In this age of financial restraint and increasing demands on behalf of consumers, quality is becoming an essential component of any product or service. While this study focuses on aspects of quality within the private rehabilitation segment of the health care industry, there are lessons that may be applied to the field of education. As expectations change and teachers become increasingly accountable for their students' education, issues of quality and cost effectiveness will come to light. Ideally, quality assurance represents a belief that a product or service can exist that satisfies the needs and expectations of both the consumer and producer or the service provider. Traditionally, quality assurance programs in the health care industry focused either on cost containment or risk management. The practitioners' perspective regarding quality is often overlooked. This study identifies benchmarks of quality based on the health care practitioner's perspective. Through the administration of a survey, the researcher identified four categories of benchmarks that were common to physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists. These professional groups identified benchmarks that focused on education, communication, attitude, and the success of the therapeutic intervention. This study has potential for the field of education. Like the health care industry, the field of education is also evolving. As people become increasingly concerned about the quality of their children's education and how best their educational dollars are spent, the demands for quality assurance within education will increase.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-7817 |
| Date | 01 January 1990 |
| Creators | Eve, David Arthur |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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