title: Minding the store: how IT impacts outcomes measurement.
abstract: Today, the question is not whether organizations should measure outcomes, but how. Right now, there are several initiatives, but no single, collaborative effort to tie them all together. This article will discuss the rise and early history of outcomes assessment in health care and highlight some key current initiatives (for example, OASIS [home health], QISMC [managed care organizations], HCQIP [inpatient care], ACQIP [ambulatory care], Joint Commission's ORYX accreditation initiative [hospitals, long-term care, home care, behavioral health care, and networks]). It will also delineate some of the problems with measuring outcomes and discuss where more work is needed. It will go on to discuss the role of IT in outcomes measurement, including its contributions, goals, effects, categories of IT support, infrastructure solutions, and analysis.
authors.affiliation: McKessonHBOC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008331:Management Information Systems; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012986:Software Validation