Overview: Establishing an outcomes management program that meets the needs of your internal and external constituencies is a challenging and difficult task. Breaking down this complex process into a series of stages with associated actions will help organize this undertaking. Frameworks have been proposed in the literature that help guide the authors of an outcomes program, however, due to the complexity and unique qualities of each health care system, no one model fits all. Therefore, developing commitment and buy in from leadership and clinicians, identifying the critical success factors and barriers to program implementation, establishing a model that fits your organizational culture and climate and creating realistic expectations and timetables are important first steps.
Building the Business Case: Costs in health care continue to climb and resources are often stretched beyond capacity. Leadership and clinicians must be convinced that an outcomes program will provide useful and relevant clinical and management information. Often the concern is related to the development of “unfunded mandates” for additional research or performance improvement initiatives. A successful outcomes program must incorporate data management as a part of clinical practice and must demonstrate a financial return on investment if key decision-makers are to be convinced.
Establishing the Program: Using a formalized program framework based on the literature and industry experience is the best approach and will be one of the drivers for success. Convening a multi-disciplinary team that is representative of all programs/services offered through the organization to establish recommendations and oversee critical decisions, such as defining the model and establishing program structure and plan, are critical to success. This team must be prepared to use every tool/technique available to them. It is the collaborative work of this team that will ultimately result in a well developed and productive outcomes program for your organization.
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Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003