Health-related outcomes management: moving forward standing still

In response to increasing economic and political pressures, administrators and other health-care professionals have become increasingly concerned with health-related outcomes management. The categories of outcomes in health care have been identified within administrative, economic, and clinical realms. Great emphasis has been placed in the literature on the importance of measuring and using outcome data for decision making. Despite this emphasis, little progress has been made in either the science or the art of outcomes management. Furthermore, integrating the art and science into systematic processes for outcomes management has been done with limited success. This paper focuses on the state of outcome concepts, measurement, collection, and evaluation. Strategies will be offered to move the conceptualization and operationalization of outcomes management forward.