Who Defines Quality?

Donna Cryer is a patient with a powerful story and a strong view: Quality is what the patient says it is. A liver transplant recipient, she lives the patient perspective. She explains how care must grow as patient-centered medicine evolves into consumer-driven health and wellness. Distinguishing good care from bad will mean accounting for the impact patients say their care has on their quality of life. This vision will require quality improvement to be faster and more flexible to support personalized care and technological evolution. Cryer predicts all this will be driven—and defined—by patients.