Quality assurance: an approach.

An approach to quality assurance in the physiotherapy department of the University Hospital in London, Ontario, is presented. The importance of assessing the quality of care is stressed. To reach a level at which quality can be assessed, a system of recording must be developed, complete with guidelines; this recording system can then be audited. A method of recording--the Problem Oriented Method of Recording, or the Problem Oriented Medical Record (POMR)--and a method of auditing are presented and discussed. Prospects for future audits are also discussed. The importance of sharing knowledge with other physiotherapists, by establishing criteria with which critical evaluation of physiotherapeutic treatments can be performed, is pointed out.