PERFORMANCE-MEASURES AND MEASUREMENT - OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT IN CLINICAL SETTINGS - A CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES INPROJECT-MANAGEMENT

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.