Final answer:
Correct Answer is C) .Quality Assurance (QA) is about maintaining current practices with a focus on documentation and meeting predetermined standards, using criteria and constraints for evaluation. Quality Improvement (QI) involves corrective actions and is centered on continuous improvements rather than just adhering to set standards. Both play key roles in managing quality but have distinct goals and processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The terms quality assurance (QA) and quality improvement (QI) are often used in the context of ensuring products or services meet certain standards. However, they differ in their approach and methodologies.
Quality Assurance (QA) focuses on maintaining current practices to ensure that products/services are produced within defined quality standards. It is a proactive process that involves establishing systems and standards for quality, as well as documentation and reporting to certify compliance. The use of criteria and constraints is essential in QA, as these elements help to set the predetermined standards that QA measures against.
In contrast, Quality Improvement (QI) is more concerned with making continuous improvements to processes or systems. It is more dynamic and reactive, dealing with identified errors through corrective actions. While performance measurement is important, the emphasis of QI is not solely on meeting predetermined standards but also on finding ways to enhance them over time.