Avedis Donabedian

Professor of public health University of Michigan (b Beirut 1919; q Beirut), died on 9 November 2000 after a long illness. His name will be familiar to any health professional who has been concerned with the methods of assessing or promoting the quality of care. It has been associated with the words “structure,” “process,” and “outcome” since a 1966 review in the Millbank Memorial Quarterly, in which he established these as the most fundamental concepts and practical guides in an essential, but elusive, field. The son of an Armenian general practitioner in rural Palestine, he first worked as a general physician in Jerusalem. While on a scholarship to the United States, he was asked to write a paper on quality assessment. This determined his future career and country of residence. His most substantial publications were the three volumes of Explorations in Quality Assessment and Monitoring 1983-85. In all his writings the fruits of observation and reflection were exhibited in lucid prose. Disagreement with others is always expressed in the most …