NURSING OUTCOMES CLASSIFICATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING INFORMATION-SYSTEMS AND THE COMPUTER-BASED PATIENT RECORD

Quality improvement, measurement, and accountability pervade all healt h care, including the agendas of nursing, other care providers, and co nsumer groups. One new face of quality is unequivocal: data will be mo re equitably shared among all groups for data-based quality judgments. This will emphasize quality more than cost with greater involvement o f the citizens compared to health care providers, payers, and health c are product suppliers. Emphasis on quality will allow patients to have a voice heard and amplified through the implementation of patient-cen tered outcomes in the computerized patient care record. This article d escribes the implications of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) for nursing information systems and the computer-based patient record .