[The Balanced Scorecard: quality management in aide associations/foundations and home care services].

In order to improve and defend quality of care, the foundation for help and home care in the canton de Vaud called upon modern instruments and methods of management, which proved their value in managing quality and innovation in world famous firms. The Balanced Scorecard developed by Kaplan and Norton belongs to these tools. This article summarise the setting up of this instrument by a non-profit organisation in health care, and illustrates its benefits and limits. Despite the absence of objective proofs of added value brought upon by the Balanced Scorecard, the first signs of a major mentality change can be detected, in which the client becomes the central part of the mission of the organisation.