Ethics committees and quality improvement: a necessary link.

As today's health care system undergoes dramatic changes, it becomes imperative that quality improvement efforts mesh with these changes to maintain quality outcomes in patient care. The confusing flurry of health care reform, cost containment, resource allocation, and advances in medical technology raises a variety of ethical issues. In the recent past ethics committees have been one strategy used to provide direction and support to care providers facing ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. The mutual goal of quality outcomes for the patient provides the rationale for linking quality improvement programs with ethics committees. As we move toward a more integrated and seamless health care system, this link may be critical to quality outcomes in caring for the patient from cradle to grave.