The importance of outcome measurement in quality assurance

Abstract

Quality assurance in health care has been an evolutionary process, beginning thousands of years ago with expressions of concern about how to care for other human beings properly. Perhaps the most notable of these expressions were those recorded by Hippocrates in his discourses on medical ethics. In more recent times, we easily are able to trace the evolution of quality assurance beliefs from emphases placed first on structure, then on process, then on a combination of structure and process, to now when we see a gradual awakening to the importance of a third element, patient outcomes. Quality, in any endeavor, does not just happen. It is, rather, the result of trial and error, practice, and hard work. In short, it is the result of learning, and hand-in-hand with learning goes communicating. By taking patient outcomes into consideration, we create a feedback system, a communication process conducive to learning in that it effectively opens up the avenues joining the three elements of health care: (1) structure, (2) process, and (3) patient outcome. We live in an era of fast-paced change where time is a precious commodity; we cannot, especially in the health care industry, afford to waste it. In seeking to formulate a systematic approach to quality assurance, focusing on only one of the three components of health care identified to date would be foolish. Effective change is based on effective communication, and from years of experience, it is clear that the best approach to high quality assurance is one that takes all elements into account.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Consumer‐orientated outcomes in discharge planning: a pilot study

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Workplace Variables and Their Relationship to Quality Client Outcomes in Home Health

“…Nurses who wish to improve clinical practice are interested in outcomes that are sensitive to nursing care (Peters, 1995; Crawford, Taylor, Seipert, & Lush, 1996). By examining client outcomes that are a result of nursing care, managers can provide timely feedback to nurses and use these data to learn and improve clinical practice (Bauman, 1991).…”

The demand for measuring the impact of nursing interventions: a community perspective

“…C;iark (198.3) usefully discu.ssed 'the dimensions of value' associated with the evaluation of clinical practice which further emphasizes the complexity of measuring the impact of nursing interventions. She argued that effectiveness can mean different things to different people; a point also made by Bauman (1991). A purchaser, for example, may link effectiveness with utilization; a practitioner with the results of trcattnent and a consumer with comfort and convenience.…”