Does improving quality save money?

A newly published report from Britain is titled: Does improving quality save money? : A review of evidence of which improvements to quality reduce costs to health service providers.

In it, Dr John Øvretveit reviews the evidence of whether improving quality can also save money for health service providers. It explores the cost saving potential of initiatives to improve quality and the barriers to success. "For most of the last decade, organisations have become accustomed to times of plenty. But the impending public sector spending crisis changes this context utterly. There are many ways in which savings can be made. The report sets out to answer whether improving quality can also help to address the need for costs to be saved." The evidence suggests that improving quality could have an important if limited contribution to addressing financial pressures.