A public health quality assurance system.

Quality assurance (QA) systems are commonplace among hospitals. They are even found in home health and health maintenance organizations, but they are less common among public health agencies. This article enumerates the discrepancies between the design of traditional QA and that necessary to meet the needs of a department of health's public health nursing service. It characterizes the subsequent changes that must be inserted into the QA system for it to comply with the mission and services of a public health setting. The system and instruments presented are used in the Baltimore County Department of Health, Public Health Nursing Services.