Healthcare outcomes are variations in the condition of the health of an individual or patient due to an intervention. We have selected this topic so that we can discuss why achieving good patient health outcome is the basic purpose of the provision of healthcare. Healthcare outcomes can be applied not only for individuals but also for whole populations as well. The measurement of has over the years become a multi-million dollar industry and this has been due partly to the growing anxiety of the society about their health. The measurement, reporting, and comparison of these outcomes can be considered to be one of the most important steps towards making sure that there is a rapid outcome improvement and that good choices are made about the reduction of costs. The measurements of quality are very common in the production processes but this cab be translated poorly in the health sector because the links between the actions and their outcome are much less direct and there is also the fact that there are some characteristics which make comparison between these two sectors very difficult. Because of this, risk adjustment is a very essential part of the outcome measurements in healthcare and there is evidence that a validated risk adjustment illustration improves the precision of the analysis of outcomes.
The concept of practice based on evidence is founded on the evidence from studies and trials, however, when it comes to outcomes, a very different way of thinking is created. A methodical examination of outcomes can have many advantages by creating performance based verification. An outcome measure has to be valid in order to be useful, that is, it has to assess only what it is supposed to and be reliable, only showing a minimal error. An outcome also needs to be easy to administer, be sensitive to what is being measured and be specific when it comes to identifying those measurements that may be false. The simplest measures to administer are those dealing with process because they rarely show the outcomes of clinical interventions and instead, they only show those dealing with administration. As a basis of healthcare targets, payment for performance schemes often give many hospitals the incentive to focus on administrative processes as opposed to clinical process. The outcomes of clinical processes are very difficult to develop and to implement, although it is a fact that the reported outcomes of patients are much easier to use.
The measurement of healthcare outcomes has now become an essential part of healthcare and those who might use this information ranges from the patients involved to those who make policy on healthcare. No single outcome is sufficient in the measurement of any aspect of healthcare since the various instruments needed to come up with a conclusive measurement have to come from multidisciplinary sources. The best thing is to have a sufficient number of these measures which have been appropriately risk adjusted which can then be measured in order to provide a continuous feedback to those who require the information.
