HOW WILL OUTCOMES MANAGEMENT WORK

A consortium of employers and managed health care organizations has co me together to test the feasibility and usefulness of an outcomes mana gement system, a new strategy for providing information on what types of medical care are effective, for whom, and under what circumstances. Systematic measurement of health outcomes can provide the information that patients, providers, and insurers/employers need to make informe d choices among alternative treatments and services. A pilot project i n thirteen sites found that outcomes management is feasible for evalua ting ongoing care for chronic conditions but is difficult to apply for short-term diagnostic or treatment episodes. Further, successful impl ementation requires a commitment of substantial organizational resourc es.