Applying a health outcomes approaching a health service unit

Abstract

An explicit focus on health outcomes has the potential to improve health if appliedat the local level. However, clinical services require clear and practical support in themeasurement and analysis of health outcome indicators. This paper suggests 12 stepsfor departments or services to take in promoting an outcomes orientation, based onour experiences in the Central Sydney Area Health Service. These include determiningcommitment at the service level, setting up a working group, specifying serviceconsumers, their health problems and intervention processes, specifying desired healthchanges, consulting the literature and peers, identifying existing resources, pilot-testingand refining outcome measures, collecting data and responding to sub-optimal resultswith evidence-based interventions. The paper also reviews common criticisms of thehealth outcomes approach and key issues which have arisen in the course of applyingthese steps at the local level.