Quality of patient care-a measurement of change: the staging concept.
A method that can be used to classify the severity of health problems and measure change in health status is described. The "staging" concept provides a system which classifies patients with similar medical conditions into clusters useful for patient care evaluation. The method defines different levels of severity: Stage I-disease with no complications or problem of minimal severity; Stage II-disease with local complications or problem of moderate severity; and Stage III-disease with systemic complications or a problem of a serious nature. Examples of the method are given and the value of the approach is described for the evaluation of the hospitalized and ambulatory patient.
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002965:Classification; D004194:Disease; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D011366:Professional Review Organizations; D011787:Quality of Health Care