QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Measuring clinical and financial outcomes in health care is a science in the early stages of development and implementation. Many tools and techniques are derived from industry models of continuous quality impr ovement and epidemiology. Epidemiologic (enumerative) and statistical process control (analytic) methods are effective alternatives to tradi tional quality assurance methods of evaluating patient care that encom pass clinical and financial outcomes. Their use has resulted in signif icant improvement of clinical outcomes and financial performance, and has increased physician involvement in the process. Although cost will be the driving force of health care reform for the next few years, de monstration of high-quality care by providers through outcomes measure ment will differentiate long-term from short-term winners in an enviro nment of managed competition. This fact will make the science of outco mes management increasingly more important.