Outcomes management: an interdisciplinary approach to improving patient outcomes

Outcomes management provides a means for interdisciplinary collaboration in improving patient outcomes. The benefits of an outcomes management program are numerous, including decreasing healthcare costs, decreasing the length of stay, improving clinical outcomes, improving system processes, and fostering outcomes research. The outcomes manager is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of an outcomes management program. One of the functions of an outcomes manager is developing collaborative practice teams to serve as vehicles of change through their analysis of outcomes data and the identification of best practice patterns. Interdisciplinary collaboration is a key component of an outcomes management program. Without an atmosphere os shared responsibility among disciplines for outcomes noted in a patient population, and recognition of individual expertise regarding care, efforts to produce change will move very slowly, if at all, and optimal improvements in care will be forfeited.