Using data from a recent study on the outcomes of child psychiatric hospita
lization, the author presents a critique of the intervention-outcome moveme
nt that dominates the health care agenda. Employing an exploratory descript
ive study design and Denzin's interpretive interactionism method, she prese
nts data that illustrate how interventions can become distorted by contextu
al factors, conflicting ideologies, agendas, and failure to thoughtfully co
nsider patient needs. She posits that research agendas are heavily tilted t
oward outcomes research that often discount the nature of structure and pro
cess. The marketplace emphasis of health care may result in environments in
which a structure and process of caring is replaced by a focus of profits
over patients. The value of focusing on interventions and outcomes in resea
rch without addressing broader ecosystem variables that influence practice
is questioned in view of in-depth data that emerge from practice settings.