Legal basis of quality in health services

The quality of health services is founded on the population s satisfaction, the professional excellence, the efficient use of resources, the provision of care with minimum risks for the patients, and the evaluation of the final impact of actions in http://scielo.sld.cu 796 Revista Cubana de Salud Publica. 2013;39(4):796-803 terms of better health for the citizens. To this end, the services must be adequately organized and one must set or apply the required standards, clinical practice guidelines, procedures and therapeutic diagnosis protocols, in addition to implementing methods related to checking of measuring instruments and of biomedical technology, on the basis of the fulfillment of the present legislation. With the objective of identifying the legal framework associated to the quality of medical assistance services, a literature review on this topic was made and then the corresponding decree-laws and resolutions passed by the Ministry, which endorse the quality of health services, were identified. These decree-laws and resolutions are in effect, so it is indispensable to know them for their control and compliance.