Risk management and quality assurance: integration for optimal effectiveness.

The following is the second article in a two-part series examining the relationship between quality assurance and risk management functions. In part one, "Risk Management and Medical Malpractice: An Overview of the Issues," published in the April 1979 QRB, Dr. Fifer reviewed the problem of medical malpractice--the primary motivation for the present interest in risk management--and discussed the characteristics of current efforts in risk management, particularly their limitations in light of the facts about malpractice. In part two, Dr. Fifer first reviews the major quality assurance functions of the medical staff. He then focuses on methods for coordinating these quality assurance functions with the risk management function in a way that will utilize the expertise of the medical staff and create a unified, hospital-wide system intended to detect and prevent deviations from expected patient outcomes.