New tools--new models to integrate outcomes into quality measurement

Nurse managers are faced with a changing health care system that values measurement of outcomes and performance. Today's nurse managers are confronted with the need for information to make decisions that translate information into knowledge about health care outcomes, effectiveness, efficiency, and quality. These same nurse managers are being held accountable for the efforts of nurses to enhance the health of the public. New models of evidence and outcomes integrated into the models of nursing process are required to measure quality in this new environment. Yet the measurement of outcomes and the measurement of quality should be united in this new paradigm. The author describes new tools available from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research that could assist nurse managers in delivering and developing computerized patient record systems that capture the evidence, the clinical indicators, and the performance measures to assist in describing the outcomes of care.