Overview of outcomes research and management and its role in oncology practice

Outcomes assessment describes a variety of activities, including classic clinical trials with quality of life and cost end points, observational studies examining the outcomes of treatment in the course of routine clinical care, and the process of managing patterns of care in clinical practice. These activities share important common features, including an emphasis on quality of life and economic outcomes, an explicit consideration of the importance of patient characteristics in determining outcomes, and a broad definition of what constitutes cancer care. The primary uses of outcomes data are to evaluate treatments and to assess the quality of care provided by physicians, health care institutions, and health insurance plans. Outcomes management integrates these activities through the implementation of guidelines, ideally based on empiric data on the relationship between medical interventions and outcomes; and the measurement of performance against a set of quality indicators derived from those guidelines. One of the biggest challenges facing clinicians today is how to reconcile the need to do what is best for patients with the need to practice cost-conscious medicine. High-quality outcomes data are at the heart of the solution. This presentation is a brief overview of outcomes research and management and its role in oncology practice.