PERFORMANCE-MEASURES AND MEASUREMENT - OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT IN CLINICAL SETTINGS - A CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES INPROJECT-MANAGEMENT
Ar. Davies et al., PERFORMANCE-MEASURES AND MEASUREMENT - OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT IN CLINICAL SETTINGS - A CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES INPROJECT-MANAGEMENT, The Joint Commission journal on quality improvement, 20(1), 1994, pp. 6-16
Background: The focus this article is on health-related outcomes, part
icularly reducing symptoms and improving health status. Public policy,
purchaser demand, quality assurance/quality improvement, clinical res
earch, and the computerized medical record have all fed the increasing
interest in outcomes. ''Outcomes assessment'' refers to the measureme
nt monitoring, and feedback of outcomes. In implementing outcomes asse
ssment the bulk of the work is concentrated in managing individual pro
jects. From May 1992 through March 1993, under a grant from the Functi
onal Outcomes Program of the New England Medical Center (Boston), the
directors of five major health outcomes assessment programs held a ser
ies of meetings to share their experiences in implementation. Principl
es and recommended best practices for project management are provided
here. Implementing an outcomes project: Making a commitment to begin i
ncludes identifying a condition or procedure to investigate, assemblin
g a project team, and naming a coordinator. Designing a project entail
s defining its purpose and scope, developing the measurement instrumen
ts, and establishing a logistical protocol for data collection. Managi
ng the data entails collecting the data, entering the data into a data
base, maintaining quality control over the data, and storing the data.
Using the data entails analyzing the data, providing feedback and int
erpretation to clinicians, and linking outcomes to the clinical proces
s. Case study: For a typical outcomes project-total hip replacement-th
e sequence of activities in the project and the staffing and resources
needed are all described.