[Outcome mesurement: the case of the "Center of Results" of the public healthcare providers network in Catalonia, Spain].
The health information system in Catalonia has experienced an important evolution but obtaining integrated data to evaluate the health services is still difficult. At the end of 2008 the basis of the information system of the "Center of Results" and a first set of indicators has been approved by the health system stakeholders. The "Center of Results" is assigned to the Catalan Health Service. It has a Direction Board and a Technical Committee to regulate its operation. The "Center of Results" has the mission to measure, evaluate and disseminate the results obtained in health care by the members of the public health services, to facilitate decision making with shared responsibility at the service of the quality of the health care given to the citizens of Catalonia. The "Center of Results" is based on performance principles that determine their operation: to share and to coordinate the existing information, to stimulate the participation and the co-responsibility of the implied agents, continuous improvement of the health information, promotion of good practices in the use of information and its responsible use, efficient instrumentation of technologies and analytical capacity to transform data into information. A participative process has been made to select and prioritize indicators. This process has reached consensus on a set of indicators. These indicators must contribute to assess the impact of the interventions of the health system on the level of the population's health and how results, with an efficient use of the resources, are obtained.
Argenter-Giralt
Miquel
M
Central de Resultats i d'Anàlisi Econòmica, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, España. margente@catsalut.cat
Barba-Albós
Genoveva
G
Román-Martínez
Anna
A
D007256:Information Systems; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017150:Public Sector; D013030:Spain