The assessment of technology and quality. A comparative study of certainties and ambiguities.

Though technology assessment and quality assessment have much in common, they differ significantly in emphasis. Technology assessment judges technology itself; quality assessment examines the extent to which a technology is used well in its various settings. This article explores the nature of quality assessment--including the performance of individual practitioners as they care for individual patients and the care received by communities--and examines its interrelationship with technology assessment.