A cost study of rural health facilities in Papua New Guinea conducted in 1988 included assessment of the potential quality of each unit. A checklist of simple criteria was developed, measuring the level of care and the capability of the centre to perform certain health service tasks. This was used to provide an overall picture of how well rural health services in the country were running, and whether centres were reaching the level of performance expected of them. The results suggested that managerial weaknesses at provincial and local levels were contributing to poor functioning at some of the centres, with wide regional variation in the amount of medical supervisory visits. Although mission services appeared to be functioning better than government services, they were also better staffed and cost more to run. Despite a long-standing rational drugs policy in the country, incorrect prescribing practices were detected at some health facilities. Checklists of this kind are useful to obtain a rapid overview of health service provision within a country or a district, and could be useful in training supervisors of rural health facilities.