title: Measuring outcomes for neurosurgical procedures.
abstract: Health care evolution has led to focused attention on clinical outcomes of care. Surgical disciplines are increasingly asked to provide evidence of treatment efficacy. As the technological advances push the surgical envelope further, it becomes imperative that postoperative outcomes are studied in a prospective fashion to assess the quality of care provided. The authors present their experience from a multiyear implementation of an outcomes initiative and share lessons learned, emphasizing the important structural elements of such an endeavor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, M787, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address: TheodosopoulosP@neurosurg.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Philip V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Theodosopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Mayfield Clinic, University of Cincinnati, 506 Oak Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ringer
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000592:standards*; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D058996:Quality Improvement
keywords: Clinical outcomes; Complication rates; Measuring quality; Outcome; Outcome assessment