Patient Outcomes of Health Care: Integrating Outcomes Data into Management Information Systems

Abstract

Healthcare managers are being challenged by a rapidly changing environment driven principally by cost and competitive pressures. Financial and clinical managers are being asked to respond to the perceived needs of stakeholders in the healthcare system. Payors, both private and public, are looking for value; consumers want freedom of choice and lower out-of-pocket costs; insurers want to avoid risk and make a profit (or net revenue); and providers want to protect their incomes and the values of the systems of care they have built. In an environment of conflicting goals and expectations, information that links cost and quality of services has assumed a central role. Those managers who understand the cost and quality performance of their healthcare products and services will have the opportunity to lead a healthcare system that is undergoing dynamic and fundamental changes.