Activities and programs intended to assure the quality of care in a defined medical setting. Such programs include peer or utilization review components to identify and remedy deficiencies in quality. The program must have a mechanism for assessing its effectiveness and may measure care against pre-established standards. Also called quality improvement. A formal methodology and set of activities designed to access the quality of services provided. Quality assurance includes formal review of care, problem identification, corrective actions to remedy any deficiencies and evaluation of actions taken. See also Continuous Quality Improvement.