Clinical indicators: a methodological approach

Clinical indicators offer physiotherapists a tool by which quality of care can be flagged and evaluated. Such a flag requires a measure of the cost of treatment as well as the outcome achieved for that cost. Traditionally, the number of treatments to discharge has been used as a proxy measure of cost as well as outcome of physiotherapy care. However, physiotherapists recognize that the cost of treatment is an inappropriate reflection of the outcome of care in many instances. The challenge for physiotherapists in developing clinical indicators is to set appropriate flags of quality of care. This paper presents a methodological approach to the development of a flag of performance for acute lower back pain.